In 1274 Kublai Khan, the Mongol conqueror, wanting to expand his already immense empire, was ready to attack Japan. He sent a fleet across the Korea Strait and landed on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands. An approaching typhoon caused him to withdraw.

Japan had always been safe from attack by foreign powers because of its isolated position as a nation of islands; but by 1281, seven years later, Kublai Khan was ready to try again. He prepared a huge fleet, and sent an army of 140.000 men to conquer and subdue Japan. This second attempt was thwarted by another typhoon which destroyed the fleet.

The Japanese called this kamikaze or "divine wind."

History tells of other divine winds. As Lehi's family traversed the Indian Ocean on their way to the promised land, Nephi's brothers rebelled against him, and bound him so that he could not move. The Lord caused their compass to cease working, and then sent "a great storm, yea, a great and terrible tempest." It was another typhoon. The tempest worsened, and "began to be exceedingly sore," and Nephi's brothers, on the fourth day, finally realized that the storm was because of their rebellion. They loosed Nephi. Nephi prayed. The compass began working, the tempest ceased, and there was a great calm. (1 Nephi 18:9-22).

The Lord uses divine winds and divine weather for His own purposes. He is in control of such things. He can turn the wind and rain on when He wants, and He can turn them off again for extended periods. Look what He did in Egypt with the seven years of plenty followed by the seven years of famine. Those years probably accomplished many of the Lord's purposes, but the big one of which we are aware, was the saving of Israel's family.

The weather was used again when it was time for Israel to leave Egypt. To help convince Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go, the Lord sent a great hailstorm which destroyed the Egyptian crops and ruined the land.

Joan of Arc is another example. She was faced with the problem of how to get her army across the Loreit River to attack the city of Orleans in France. The English controlled Paris and all of northern France.. It was just a matter of time before the whole country would fall to England. That would have had an impact upon the restoration of the gospel 400 years later. The Lord looks ahead. He knew that George Washington would need the help of Lafayette and the French in America's Revolutionary War. That help would not have been available if France was English.

Joan of Arc and her army were on the other side of the river from Orleans. The wind was against her. It was a strong wind against which men could not row boats to get her army across. Joan prayed. The strong wind dramatically shifted in her favor. The army crossed the river, the English were routed, battles were won, and the tide of the long war was finally turned.

It was another divine wind.

George Washington experienced a divine storm and fog. His Continental Army was trapped in Brooklyn on Long Island. It was August 29, 1776, in the hot time of summer when fogs don't happen. An English army and hundreds of English warships were ready to annihilate Washington's army the next day. However, a strong wind and rainstorm prevented the ships from coming up the East River. The pelting rain and big wind made things very uncomfortable for Washington and his men, but the wind and rain saved their lives. At 11:00 p.m. the wind abated, and every rowboat on both sides of the river was pressed into service. Under cover of darkness the army was evacuated to Manhattan. It was a slow process. Men were designated to keep campfires burning to make the English think the army was still there. By daybreak Washington and a few men were still awaiting their turn to make the crossing of the river. A heavy fog settled over the area, providentially concealing their actions. Miraculously, there was no fog on the Manhattan side. But for that divine storm and fog, there would have been no free United States of America where the Restoration of the gospel could have taken place.

The Lord's plans can never be frustrated. He is more powerful than an army. He is more powerful than Satan. He oversees the earth and men and the weather. He saved America with a storm and a fog, and the way was paved for the Restoration to begin.

First, however, He had to get Joseph Smith into position where he could be taught by Moroni. This time, instead of using a divine wind or storm or fog, He used a volcano. In his lifetime Joseph Smith Senior was never aware that a volcano had ever had the least effect upon his family. But on April 5, 1815 Mt. Tambora erupted in Indonesia. It is thought that the eruption was the loudest sound ever heard on earth. It broke the eardrums of people hundreds of miles away. It belched 36 cubic miles of ash, pumice, and rock into the atmosphere. If you take the length of Baker Valley and make it a cube that wide and that deep, that is the amount of material that went into the atmosphere. It made for spectacular sunsets the world around, blocked out sunlight, lowered the earth's temperature, and caused crop failures and famine in China and Europe. It is thought that 10 million people died in the famine. The lowered temperatures caused the "year without a summer" in New England. It frosted there every month, and snowed in July and August. Crops froze and didn't grow, and Joseph Smith Senior lost his farm. He was forced to move because of a volcano erupting half a world and another hemisphere away. He knew nothing about the volcano nor the Lord's plans. He could only see his hardships. He prayed, and he moved.

The Lord probably accomplished many other purposes with that volcanic explosion, but a big one was to cause Joseph Smith Senior to move his family near to a hill called Cumorah. The Lord needed a young boy in that family to be right there.

Our adversities always have a purpose. Thank goodness for Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith's perseverance, patience, prayers, and their faithfulness. Because of them, and because of that divine volcano we have the Book of Mormon and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Joseph Smith Junior experienced a divine wind, too. He and Zion's Camp, or the Camp of Israel, had made the long march to Missouri to redeem the saints' lands from which they'd been evicted in Jackson County. An army of Missourians gathered to do battle with them. They outnumbered Zion's Camp by about 500 to 230. On the night of June 19, 1834 Joseph and his group camped between the two forks of Fishing River. The forks of that river in some seasons are small enough to jump across. The Missourians were on the other side of the river, and planned to attack Zion's Camp at night.

But the Lord had other purposes in mind when he brought Joseph and the Camp of Israel to Missouri. It was not His intention to have them fight. He was testing the men to see whom He could trust to become the leaders of His Church. A tremendous thunderstorm arose accompanied by huge hailstones. Fishing River swelled to a raging torrent 40 feet deep. Joseph Smith and Zion's Camp took refuge in a small church, but the Missourians were exposed to the full power of the storm.

Two days later a colonel with the Missourians acknowledged to Joseph Smith that "there is an Almighty power that protects this people, for I started from Richmond, Ray County, with a company of armed men, having a fixed determination to destroy you, but was kept back by the storm, and was not able to reach you."

The Lord had accomplished His purpose of seeing who would be faithful, and who would become the leaders upon whom He could depend. The Camp of Israel was sent home, and the redemption of Zion would wait for another day. Nine of the men who would be called as the first 12 apostles of the Restored Church, and all of the Seventy, were chosen from this faithful group of men who made the nearly 900-mile march to Missouri..

The Lord is in charge of the winds and the weather, and even controls volcanoes. He is in control of men's and women's destinies, and blesses the elements and personal situations to the benefit of those who will be faithful to Him. There will be hard spots in all of our lives, but those adversities are intended to become our greatest blessings if we handle them properly without complaint.

When you experience what you think is an adverse wind in your life, resist the urge to complain. Look for the divine in that wind, and most often you will find it after many (or maybe not so many) days.