Exodus 10:19

Children Of The West Wind

An exceeding strong west wind. Exodus 10:19.

We have left the West wind to the last (the texts of the other sermons in this series are Exodus 14:21; Ezekiel 1:4; Acts 27:13.), but although it is last, please don't run away with the idea that it is in any sense least. The West wind has a very important part to play in these islands. Those who watch the winds tell us that there are almost two days in which West or South-West winds blow over them to one day that easterly winds blow. I don't know whether the proportion of West-wind people to East-wind people is the same, but I think you will find that the number of West-wind people is not at all small.

1. Now, let us see what are the characteristics of the West wind. Well, first of all, it is a warm wind. It blows off the great Atlantic Ocean, and it carries with it some of the warmth of the Gulf Stream, which does so much to keep our Islands mild.

West-wind people are very warm-hearted. They give you a welcome when you go among them, and they are ready to share what they have with you. They are kindly and sympathetic and affectionate. Perhaps their affections are not very deep. They are apt to forget you when you are out of sight; but then you must remember what a lot of people find accommodation in their hearts.

2. Then the West wind is rather a wet wind. It blows off a great expanse of ocean and brings much moisture with it. When this warm, moist air touches the cold tops of our Western mountains, the moisture comes down as rain.

We are not going to accuse the West-wind people of being mournful, but I think you will find they are more easily moved to laughter and to tears than the children of any other wind.

3. But the thing that has struck me most about the West wind is its fitfulness. Sometimes it blows quite softly. Then in a few minutes a stiff breeze has risen, and before long you have a hurricane tearing the leaves off the trees, driving the dust in wild clouds, lashing the waves into angry foam.

This is the chief characteristic of the West-wind people. They are excitable, quick, not very dependable. They act on the impulse of the moment without stopping to think, and often they have much cause to regret their hasty actions. Their temper is somewhat gusty, rising in a moment without the least warning and often with very little cause. One moment they are all gentleness and laughter, the next a regular tempest is raging so that every one is glad to get out of their way.

Now, West-wind people, will you look at your text? “An exceeding strong west wind.” And what did the “exceeding strong west wind” do? It took up the locusts that terrible plague which had been devouring every green thing in Egypt “it took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea.”

Do you know that you are really wasting a great deal of energy? It is your nature to be gusty. Well, there are in the world plenty of great wrongs waiting to be blown away by big gales. What a lot of good you could do if you would only store up your energy to blow away these wrongs instead of squandering it in fitful gusts and storms in tea pots! That energy of yours is a great power, but first you must learn to control it. You must learn to put the brake on your temper and your impulses, else you will be like a powerful engine rushing uncontrolled down a steep incline to meet almost certain destruction at the bottom.

Once a great general was talking about the battles he had fought and the victories he had won, and someone asked him which had been the proudest moment of his life. What do you think he answered? “The grandest moment of my life,” he said, “was when I got control of myself.”

I want to tell you about a boy who “got control of” himself. His name was Louis, Duke of Burgundy, and he was the grandson of Louis XIV of France. When he was quite small he was willful, greedy, and cruel. His temper was so violent that his friends were afraid to play with him. If he lost a game he flew into a terrible passion.

When Louis was seven years of age he came under the charge of the wise and faithful Abbe de Fenelon. A year later he wrote the following promise on a piece of paper: “I promise, on the faith of a prince, to M. lAbbe de Fenelon, that I will do at once whatever he bids me, and will obey him instantly in whatever he forbids; and if I break my word, I will submit to every possible punishment and dishonor. Given at Versailles, November 29, 1689. Signed, Louis”

The boy evidently found it was easier to make a promise than to keep it, for a few lines are added later: “Louis, who promises anew to keep his promise better, September 20.... I beg M. de Fenelon to let me try again.”

Louis did try again, and by the time his boyhood was over he had his temper well under control. He grew up strong and wise, with a fine sense of duty; and some people think that, had he lived, the French Revolution would never have taken place.

You are filled with energy and impulse, West-wind people, and you need a strong hand to help you to control yourselves. If you trust to your own power you can never be sure that you will get the mastery, but there is One who can help you, and if you take Him as your Master your energies will be turned to true and noble use.

The world has need of you all children of the North, the South, the East, the West. So blow away fresh winds! Blow all the cobwebs off this dusty old world! We could not spare any one of you.

Whichever way the wind doth blow,

Some heart is glad to have it so;

Then blow it east, or blow it west,

The wind that blows, that wind is best.