What lies hidden in our hearts is exposed when the winds of providence blow.

“Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow. (Song of Songs 4:16) The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out. (Proverbs 20:5) “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” (Jeremiah 17:10)”

We have some jasmine growing in our garden. If ever you’d like to smell it, you just have to walk up close and sniff the flowers. Its worth it! But when a gentle wind blows, the intoxicatingly delightful scent reaches you wherever you are. The moving air perfumes everything and even the odour from dog poos fades into the background!

Strong winds do a lot more damage than a gentle breeze. If ever you’ve walked along the beach after gale force onshore winds, you’ll see all sorts of debris that has washed up from the depths. I know this is yuck, but its almost as if the powerful winds have forced the ocean to vomit out things that were deep and hidden inside.

Our hearts are like very deep water. All of us think we know what lies beneath(!) in our hearts but we are often surprised by what comes up every now and then. Its like the Buddhist story of the monk meditating with eyes closed on a boat in the middle of a peaceful lake. Something starts to bump on his boat and even though he ignores it, it won’t go away. Angrily he opens his eyes ready to unload on the inconsiderate disturber, only to see that its an empty boat that has come off its moorings and drifted into his boat. To his surprise he realises the truth that anger comes from within himself – no one was there to cause it. He didn’t know that such anger lay dormant within himself, even when he was at his most peaceful.

Our hearts hide things from us. God ‘searches’ and knows our hearts. Sometimes He exposes the contents of our hearts to us through the winds of fortune – our ever changing circumstances. When the winds blows gently, the sweet fragrances of kindness and other-person centredness are released and scattered around us.

At other times, He uses the more violent winds of adversity. Just like walking along the beach after a storm, we are surprised to see all the things that have been forced out from deep within us such as anger, malice and self-defensiveness.

Whether it is the South wind, or whether it is the North wind, or whatever winds of life blow over us, God controls it all. The winds are His creation and His servants doing exactly as He pleases.

Don’t be discouraged to see the ‘bad’ things that flow out of your heart when going through difficult times. The exposure of these hidden things give us an opportunity to deal with them – with God’s never-failing help. But also, see the good that you’d never have noticed without the winds. See how you still trust Him even though the wind is howling and just won’t die down.