Chimes in the night

Cathy and I have several sets of hanging chimes outside our house, most in the back. We have some of the very cheap "tinkle-tinkle-ding-dong" kind, some that are works of art tuned to various kinds of music scales, and some that are the large kind that remind you of church bells in ancient cathedrals. We have been collecting them for some time, and a few of them are gifts from friends. We love the way they sound.

Last night (Thursday, April 11 - Friday April 12) I could not sleep so I went into the study to read. In the early morning  hours a large storm came through, and the wind blew tremendously. I sat in my study and listened to the chimes ringing.

I could hear all of them, sounding in the night. (I hope they do not bother my good neighbors- they have not yet complained!) It occurred to me that I do not often hear those large "church bell" chimes. It takes a lot of wind to make the clapper hit the tubes. Sometimes I relax by lying in the hammock and when a gentle breeze blows, I hear the cheaper lighter "tinkle" chimes. When the wind blows more, I hear the heavier ones. And during the storm I hear the heaviest of all.

I think our faith is like that. We are all a combination of the various kinds of chimes. When things are going well, people hear us "tinkle" about how good God is. When harder winds blow, people hear the more tuneful parts of our faith ("Yes, things are hard, but God is with us"). And when the storms are raging in our life, they hear from us the deep, resounding sounds of faith ("Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him"- Job 13:15).

Into everyone's life storms will come and winds will blow. And we are God's chimes for others to hear in the midst of storms. It important that we are anchored. All our chimes are securely anchored to the carport, to trellises, to trees. The wind is not going to detach them. Blow though it might, all it will do is make them make more noise, more music.

And when we are anchored to Christ, securely anchored there, the storms will come, but they just cause us to sound out beautiful music. Even in the night.