The Divine Wind

A couple of windy days and many of the leaves on the trees around where I live have become unglued from their branches. All, that is, except our magnolia tree. Here they hang on with determination. In the spring the magnolia flowers first and then the leaves arrive somewhat late, so I suppose they just want their full life span.

The wind which causes many a leaf to fall is absolutely unpredictable. It may be a whisper or a gust, brief or prolonged and from any direction at any moment.

Jesus spoke about the mystery of the wind. One night he was in deep conversation with a man named Nicodemus, a religious minister akin to a Bishop. Jesus was telling him that a personal, valid and life-changing experience of God was dependant on the move of God’s Spirit, and no amount of earthbound religion could provide this. The dead foliage of this man’s spiritless religion needed to be blown clean away by God himself!

Jesus said: “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” was Nicodemus’ earnest question. How indeed? When someone comes to personal faith in God, there is a mystery present because ultimately it is a miracle from God.

If we hear and feel within our own heart the wind of God’s Spirit, which is essential and can’t be predicted anymore than can the wind, our part is not to hang on to the branches of our doubt as do the magnolia leaves to their branches. This is why God, through the pages of the Bible repeatedly says, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…’ Rather we should yield and exercise our trust in Jesus. God has so fixed it, that if there is the fall of autumn there will be new life in spring. We can receive that spiritual springtime today.