A distant roar of wind could be heard between the peals of thunder.”
–Zane Grey (The Light of the Western Stars)
“And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”
–Mark 4:41 (NKJV)
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“Listen to the wind,
Wonder what he’s saying…
Wonder where he goes….”
–Bob Nolan
Last week I wrote a little on the idea of the wind as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Since March is the “windy” month I thought it fitting to write some more. So far we haven’t had any raging winds, but I did see that in the Sierra Nevadas of California they had wind gusts exceeding 150 miles per hour. One of the problems with the Panhandle fires is that continual Panhandle wind.
The wind comes and goes. You can’t see it, you can’t taste it, you can’t touch it, and you can’t smell it. However, you can see, feel, and even smell the effects of the wind. It can bring a welcome breeze or a hot breath that burns up the grass. That is the essence of the wind.
The wind is mysterious in its working as is the Holy Spirit. Solomon writes, “As you do not know what is the way of the wind…” (Ecclesiastes 11:5, NKJV) It comes and it goes. It brings other weather and also pushes weather away. If you’ve ever seen the brown haze over Denver that is smog and the only way it goes away is by the wind. Perhaps our lives are like that, full of pollution, dust, dirt, toxic air. Then the blessed Holy Spirit will come as the wind to blow all that dirt, evil, and grim away. We read in John that the wind and the Spirit goes where it wishes. Harbuck puts it this way, “The wind blows (carries a breeze) where it pleases, and though you hear the sound of it, you don’t know where it comes from and where it is going…” (John 3:8)
We must also know that the wind is powerful. It can bring devastation and death. The same is true of the Spirit but in that He also brings deliverance and life. Acts 2:2 speaks of “a rushing mighty wind.” I really like Harbuck’s description, “Suddenly a sound came from heaven [into the upper room] like a powerful roaring wind–or like an intense windblast [similar to the sound of gushing waves of the sea reaching the shore]…” Christ breathed upon His disciples when they were commissioned to proclaim Him and the Gospel to the world. It is this “wind” that pushes us, drives us along to do His will. We see the power of the wind in hurricanes, tornadoes, and mighty gusts coming down through the mountain canyons.
Above I mention how the wind comes to clear the smog from Denver. We see this in the Book of Job, “Even now men cannot look at the light when it is bright in the skies, when the wind has passed and cleared them.” (37:21, NKJV) When the wind comes the air becomes pure, refreshed, and clean. I have seen the massive snow drifts removed and dried from a Chinook wind that comes in overnight. When the turbulent wind of a thunderstorm brings in the front it can be fearful, but after it has passed, and who knows how long that will take, there is that wonderful aroma of refreshment and cleansing.
“Lord, let Thy love, fresh from above,
Soft as the south wind blow;
Call forth its bloom, wake its perfume,
And bid its spices flow!”
–John S. B. Monsell
——————————
“Listen to the wind,
Wonder what he’s saying…
Wonder where he goes….”
–Bob Nolan
Last week I wrote a little on the idea of the wind as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Since March is the “windy” month I thought it fitting to write some more. So far we haven’t had any raging winds, but I did see that in the Sierra Nevadas of California they had wind gusts exceeding 150 miles per hour. One of the problems with the Panhandle fires is that continual Panhandle wind.
The wind comes and goes. You can’t see it, you can’t taste it, you can’t touch it, and you can’t smell it. However, you can see, feel, and even smell the effects of the wind. It can bring a welcome breeze or a hot breath that burns up the grass. That is the essence of the wind.
The wind is mysterious in its working as is the Holy Spirit. Solomon writes, “As you do not know what is the way of the wind…” (Ecclesiastes 11:5, NKJV) It comes and it goes. It brings other weather and also pushes weather away. If you’ve ever seen the brown haze over Denver that is smog and the only way it goes away is by the wind. Perhaps our lives are like that, full of pollution, dust, dirt, toxic air. Then the blessed Holy Spirit will come as the wind to blow all that dirt, evil, and grim away. We read in John that the wind and the Spirit goes where it wishes. Harbuck puts it this way, “The wind blows (carries a breeze) where it pleases, and though you hear the sound of it, you don’t know where it comes from and where it is going…” (John 3:8)
We must also know that the wind is powerful. It can bring devastation and death. The same is true of the Spirit but in that He also brings deliverance and life. Acts 2:2 speaks of “a rushing mighty wind.” I really like Harbuck’s description, “Suddenly a sound came from heaven [into the upper room] like a powerful roaring wind–or like an intense windblast [similar to the sound of gushing waves of the sea reaching the shore]…” Christ breathed upon His disciples when they were commissioned to proclaim Him and the Gospel to the world. It is this “wind” that pushes us, drives us along to do His will. We see the power of the wind in hurricanes, tornadoes, and mighty gusts coming down through the mountain canyons.
Above I mention how the wind comes to clear the smog from Denver. We see this in the Book of Job, “Even now men cannot look at the light when it is bright in the skies, when the wind has passed and cleared them.” (37:21, NKJV) When the wind comes the air becomes pure, refreshed, and clean. I have seen the massive snow drifts removed and dried from a Chinook wind that comes in overnight. When the turbulent wind of a thunderstorm brings in the front it can be fearful, but after it has passed, and who knows how long that will take, there is that wonderful aroma of refreshment and cleansing.
“Lord, let Thy love, fresh from above,
Soft as the south wind blow;
Call forth its bloom, wake its perfume,
And bid its spices flow!”
–John S. B. Monsell