When the Wind Blows

I love when God speaks. Those of you who refuse to hear God must work really hard to ignore the most obvious thing in the Universe! The last few weeks God has been speaking to me about His wind. Yeah it’s His! 

I write this blog post as Hurricane Melissa, with one of the most fierce winds in recorded history, pounds Jamaica with gust near 250 MPH. Our prayers go out to the people of Jamaica and the Caribbean. Even here in Oklahoma we have an odd wind advisory with up to 50 mph wind gusts. 

Here are a couple of the things God has shared with me about wind.

• A sailor is not made in calm seas. 
• Most of what you are born for is on the other side of adverse winds.

I heard this story at FCA last week. I believe you will be moved by it.

There was once a Rancher that owned a big ranch. He needed some help but could not find anyone he could hire as a ranch hand. 

One day a young man showed up at the ranch. He asked the rancher if he was hiring any ranch hands. The Rancher was excited that he finally might get some help. He asked the young man. “Do you have any experience working on a ranch?”

The young man responded “I can sleep when the wind blows.”

The Rancher looked at the young man and said, “What?”

Once again the young man responded   “I can sleep when the wind blows.”

The Rancher looked at the kid and thought. Kids these days. You can’t find good help anywhere anymore. The Rancher needed help so bad, he decided to offer the young man the job. He said. “Son, be here early in the morning ready to get to work.”

To the Rancher’s surprise, the young man was waiting for him when he got to the barn early that morning. He had already begun cleaning up the barn. Matter of fact, the young man was the best ranch hand he had ever hired. There wasn’t anything too difficult for the young man.  Breaking horses, fixing fences, you name it the young man proved worthy. 

One night the Rancher was awakened by a mighty burst of wind that blew open his bedroom window. He could hear lightning in the distance. He jumped to his feet and knew he had to act quickly to save the ranch. He threw on his clothes and ran out to the ranch hand quarters to wake up the young man. He hollered up the stairs, “Wake Up!” All he could hear was the young man snoring. He ran up the stairs to the young man’s bed and shook him. “Wake up! There is a Storm coming!” 

The young man finally opened his eyes, he looked at the rancher and said, “I told you I can sleep when the wind blows!” The rancher was furious, “Get up, there is a storm coming, all will be lost!” The young man rolled over quietly saying once more, “I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.”

The Rancher stormed out of the ranch house and headed for the barn. To his surprise the hay was all tied down and put away perfectly in the barn. He ran to the stable where he was once again was shocked as every horse in the stable was safely put in their stall. There wasn’t a single thing left unprepared for the coming storm. 

I thought The Story was an amazing analogy. Can you “Sleep when the Wind Blows” knowing that you are prepared for the day when Jesus returns? Can you sleep at night knowing that when the storms of life show up, you have spent time in the word and know who to call in a time of need?  

Wind is also used in the Bible to describe the Power of the Holy Spirit. As followers of Jesus Christ, we can choose to do exactly what Jesus did in the boat in a storm. The same storm that his disciples were convinced was going to take their lives. Jesus slept when the wind blew! 

How you ask? He was the Wind! His human body was completely full of the Holy Spirit without measure according to the Word of God. That means He was the Wind! The most powerful wind that ever lived or manifested on earth! 

The Bible says in Acts 2:2 on Pentecost, 50 days after his rising. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit back to earth like a Mighty Rushing Wind! The wind is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, particularly because in both the Hebrew and Greek languages, the word for “spirit” is also the word for “breath” or “wind”.

“When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.”Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭MSG‬‬

As Christians, we are not only able to sleep when the wind blows, we are also able to fight when the wind blows. Our battles these days are mostly spiritual battles, but my favorite example of a physical battle that God used to show His might comes from 2 Samuel 5:24 when David and his mighty men were waiting to take back their families and everything else stolen from them at Ziglag. David was to wait until he heard a “sound of a going” or “marching” in the tops of the mulberry trees. When the wind blows in the tops of the nearby trees … “bestir thyself!” 

The verb “bestir” means “to determine,” or “to decide.” Fight with all your might!

And God that remarkable day delivered the Philistines into David’s hands! They lost not a single warrior and were given much more than they had lost. 

Whether you are preparing to sleep when the wind blows or you are preparing to fight the enemy for a mighty victory. Take time to welcome the Holy Spirit’s Wind into your life today!