“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.” – John 3:8
Many circumstances are simply beyond our control. They are like the wind in West Texas where I grew up. Out there it blows almost all the time, and you can complain all you want but there’s not a darn thing you can do about it. Wind is perhaps the most elusive and least controllable of all nature’s elements. Rain, for example, cannot be controlled in its occurrence, but at least the water it produces can be captured and contained in reservoirs, and flooding can be averted much of the time by the creation of watersheds, dams, and levies. But wind can neither be captured nor its effects averted. It simply comes and goes as it will.
Such are those annoying, uncontrollable, and sometimes destructive circumstances we face – the economy, war, disease, pollution, crime or natural disasters. We can complain all we want but there’s not a darn thing we can do about it. Or is there? Although no one can control the West Texas wind, there are creative ways it can be used for good. Decades ago, for example, someone discovered that water can be pumped out of underground aquifers using windmills, providing much needed water to thirsty livestock. More recently that concept has advanced much further as hundreds of giant towers have been erected with huge propellers that turn gracefully in the wind generating pollution-free electricity. Billions of dollars are being invested in this new technology of using otherwise annoying uncontrollable wind for the good of mankind.
All of us can find ways to be windmills in the uncontrollable circumstances we face. While we cannot control the economy, we can tend to our own finances prudently. We can’t stop wars, but we can try to live peacefully with our neighbors. We can’t stop others from polluting, but we can be good stewards of the environment. We can’t cure diseases, but we can comfort those who suffer. We can’t stop crime, but we can contribute to making our neighborhoods safer by providing better education and teaching higher values to children so that fewer will grow up to be criminals. We can’t prevent natural disasters, but we can pitch in to help the victims. For, just like in West Texas, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.” But as a windmill does, it can be turned into good.