Storm Brewing

     We have what the weatherman calls haboobs here in Phoenix, Arizona. From what I've read the word "haboob" comes from the Arabic word habb, meaning "wind." With the wind, comes the dust, rain, hail, and humidity, weather we generally get only in the summer months or our monsoon season. Yesterday we had a big dust storm and our pool went from crystal clear to resembling a pond with dirt, sticks and loads of leaves in it. 

     Today we turned on the filter, brushed the dirt off the steps and skimmed the leaves off of our pool. It was looking pretty good by afternoon, just in time for another storm to begin brewing on the horizon. But isn't that just like life? The wind blows, the hail falls, the debris of everyday living sometimes builds up and storms come into our calm homes. 

     But with God in our lives, the storms are easier to ride out and the effect is often not so much devastation as it is cleansing of the junk that needed to be brought to the surface and then washed away. Without God, we tend to hoard debris until the storms threaten to blow us away and leave causalities in its wake. When the dust settles, destruction instead of rebuilding often lingers, when we don't take our trials to the Lord in prayer. 

Haboob heading toward our home yesterday.

^{John 3:8}  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.