God’s Goodness

Day 12 – The Wind

Wind is defined as the rough horizontal movement of air across the earth. The Holy Spirit is likened to the wind in the Word.

Wind does not blow from the bottom or from the top but horizontally. The Holy Spirit does not crush us with burdens too great to bear. Nor does He cause us to stumble or be swept off our feet. Instead, he guides us through the Word in a Godly direction. We can’t see the wind in this picture but we know it is there by looking at the flag and the direction it’s pointing.

I found it interesting that the first time the wind is mentioned in the Bible is in chapter 8.

The number eight is symbolic of “new beginnings.” Jesus Christ is our New Covenant and that Covenant provides a new beginning for all born-again believers. Through His shed blood, we have remission of sins. After His resurrection, He left us the Holy Spirit to reside within us and to stir us, move us to be more like Christ. If find it a blessing that the Holy Spirit is compared to the wind. I believe that even the chapter and verse divisions in the Word of God are there for us to be blessed with! The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (Joh 3:8 ) Isn’t it interesting that this chapter heading is the number three (indicative of the Trinity) and the number eight, New Beginnings? I won’t know for sure until I reach Heaven if the chapter and verse numbers were meant to bless me in this way, but in the mean time, I consider myself blessed!

In my research on the wind, I discovered that still air is a great insulator. That means that heat does not flow well in still air. This is the reason why heat rises in a still room. When there is a fire, we’re told to lay on the floor and crawl out of harm’s way. Where there is no breeze, that heat goes upward. The wind (breeze) stirs up that heat, circulates it and the fire grows. When we are spiritually not moving forward, we are still. We are like that still air, insulating our spiritual lives and not moving. When we are not growing in Christ, the fires of the Holy Spirit aren’t moving within us. Our spiritual embers need to be stirred by the movement of the Spirit in our lives. Only then are we productive Christians and yielding spiritual fruit.

We’ve had some pretty powerful wind storms the past few days due to a Nor’easter sweeping up the East coast. Prior to the winds, the ground was saturated with rain and the root systems of the trees were weakened. The wind caused much more damage because of this. We have a cedar tree on the side of our house that is leaning into another cedar tree. If it weren’t for that supporting tree, this leaning tree would have come down on our fence. If the wind were to switch directions, it would push that leaning cedar into our house. The winds are now dying and I’m thankful that my Heavenly Father has protected us yet again! As I meditated on the power of this Nor’easter, I made some beautiful correlations to the Spirit’s movement within our lives. When our lives are not saturated with worldliness, we are yielded and the Spirit’s wind will move us, conforming us to the beautiful image of our Saviour.

However, when our lives are saturated with worldliness, we are unyielding to the Spirit and He must draw us back with stronger winds. Sometimes the spiritual winds break us, sometimes the winds cause havoc in our lives as a result of our own actions. Isn’t it easier to yield to the Holy Spirit than to have to pick up the broken pieces later on? God will not force us to submit to Him but, like a loving Father, will allow the storms of life to come upon us so we can turn once again to Him. Look at your own children and how you deal with them. You don’t force them to decisions but you guide them. When they make the wrong decision, they have to reap the consequences of those decisions. It’s the same with the Holy Spirit in our own lives, my friend.

This same wind has the power to rejuvenate and encourages new growth on this earth. The wind carries pollen from one place to another to create new life. The wind stirs up the ground from the winter’s effects. The wind prepares that ground for Spring. What a beautiful picture of the Holy Spirit. Our dead heart is made alive by the Spirit moving in us. He converts that fallow ground of our heart into a good soil, ready to receive the precious seed of the Gospel. Upon salvation, that seed will grow and will bare the fruit of the peace of Jesus Christ! And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. (Jam 3:18 )

What a blessed analogy the Lord has given me this morning! I love to find Him in His creation, don’t you? The Word could not describe the Holy Spirit in a better way than to compare Him to the wind. Thank You, Lord!

Dear God…
Thank You for Your Spirit
May He direct my way
Help me to be yielded
With each and every day