The Wind is Not a River

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans
8:18

“This too shall pass…”

During the time of the second World War, there was an unusual mix of progress and antiquity in the Aleutian Islands. The native people had been learning the new ways, while still trying to retain some of the old ways of living off the land. It was a difficult time for many, and a precious old saying bore new meaning. For Sasan and her brother Sidak, newly orphaned and having just weathered a terrible storm, the meaning of the saying went even deeper.

…when Sidak mentioned he was hungry, Sasan put out on the table the smoked fish she had brought along. As they sat silently in the gathering darkness eating the fish, Sasan saw a look of sadness come over her brother’s face. She asked, ‘Do you remember what Grandmother always used to say when we were unhappy or in pain?’

“Yes,” Sidak answered, “she used to say, ‘The wind is not a river.’”

Sasan said, “Yes, it is true. The sadness we feel today, like the wind in the storm we just passed through, must also pass away.” As she said these words, she tried hard not to show the pain and sadness in her own heart.

---The Wind is not a River, by Arnold A. Griese

Sasan and Sidak were learning a truth we often need reminded of ourselves. The wind is not a river. Our difficulty and trials we go through here in this life will pass away, and be quickly forgotten in the joy and rapture of the wonders of Heaven. Our trials will one day pass.

In this life, also, we find that the trials of life are temporary. Not only in Heaven will the children of God realize the difficulties will not last forever, but we find that there is always light at the end of the tunnel, sunshine after the rain, and morning after midnight.

Recently, we had a number of problems with our motorhome. Actually, it was an unreal amount of problems! It seemed like everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Everything that could break, broke! And then the motorhome got stuck in the sand, and sickness swept through the family. It seemed like just too much. But, almost as quickly as the troubles came, they passed. The ill ones recovered, a kind man (with a very big truck) pulled our motorhome out of the sand, and we were able to get almost all of the things fixed. Our problems passed.

Just as Sasan and Sidak remembered the words of their loving grandmother, let’s try to remember that our troubles, though they seem to be so vast and so difficult, will one day pass.

“The Wind is not a River.”