Where Did That Come From?!

A couple weeks ago, as I prepared to hunker down with my boys, awaiting the "Big Snow," I stopped at a local ice cream parlor to grab a couple pints for the milkshake making that would surely be a part of our snow days. The weather had been a bit wonky. Just the previous day, it had been 50°, and here we were, awaiting several inches of snow and a deep, deep freeze. As I parked a good distance away (Gotta get those steps in for the old ticker!) and headed into the store, the air was chilly but still. Less than fifteen minutes later, I stepped out of the store and into a wind tunnel. And it felt as though the temps had dropped by twenty degrees! Where did this come from?! That only goes to show how stunned I was: I ended my question with a preposition AND, I believe, I exclaimed it aloud! (I'm not an "aloud" exclaimer, nor would I be caught dead ending anything with a preposition. But I digress.)

This morning, as I read John 3:1-21, Jesus' teaching to Nicodemus, verse 8 reminded me of that abrupt change in the air that evening:

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

To us, a world of simple observers, the wind appears to come and go as it pleases. We feel it on our skin. We hear its roar and whistle. We see its effect on trees and trashcans. We have even found ways to "harness" it for our own purposes. But when it stops or when it starts, where it goes or at what rate of speed is ultimately beyond our control. And it can take us by complete surprise one way or the other.

Jesus tells Nicodemus, and by extension, all who would hear, the Holy Spirit's work is like the wind. To us, a world of simple observers, His work may seem wild and unpredictable. We feel His regeneration in our hearts. We hear His voice speaking through the Scriptures. We call on Him to accomplish those things we are unable to accomplish. We even witness His transformation in the lives of others. But how He works, when He works, if He will work in the way we anticipate, the speed at which we will see the results of His work --all these things are beyond our control. The work of the Holy Spirit takes us by surprise one way or the other. Direction, intention, method, and mystery.

The wind obeys its Master, the Master Creator who holds all things together as He wills. The Holy Spirit is that Master! He is not wild and unpredictable --not in the way the wind can rip through a town cherry-picking home after home and leaving lawn furniture untouched and in place. He is not reckless or chaotic --not in the tohu wa-bohu way of Genesis 1:1, 2; chaos and nothingness. It was the Holy Spirit Himself who hovered over that emptiness. The King James Version of the Bible says, The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. There was movement, like a flutter; a hummingbird, its wings beating furiously as it hovers above a flower, drawing of its nectar; a helicopter whirring over a vast sea, as it pulls survivors from the wreckage of a storm-slain ship. And from that flutter, from that whirring, from the rushing wind of Holy Spirit activity comes order and life (Acts 2:1-4).

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Life! for all who would hear the Word of the Lord and believe! Is that you? Or is that someone for whom you have been praying? I urge you not to lose hope. The Holy Spirit is at work. When or how, from where His mighty (or gentle) wind will blow, we cannot control. Like stepping out of an ice cream parlor and being met with a "rogue" wind, like the soft but feverish flutter of a hummingbird wind, like the daring rescue of desperate men, like the mystery of void and chaos taking form. The Holy Spirit is at work in the Kingdom of God, and as such, we as God's citizens, can find great comfort and strength to continue our petitions.