The wind blows where it will. It comes and goes like the tides, yet without precision. No one knows when and where winds will blow. No one knows where they start or how far they go.
Winds can be refreshing, providing relief on a blistering hot day. Sometimes a fresh breeze is all that is needed to change the atmosphere. It can take a hot day and make it bearable. It can blow out the old and bring in the new.
Winds can also bluster and gale and yield unspeakable destruction. Being an Oklahoman, I have witnessed this first hand in the aftermath of tornadoes. It can all seem so random; winds that can be both a blessing and a curse. Yet isn’t this the way of all creation; fire that can fuel can also destroy and water that can nourish can also drown.
All creation contains such mystery. We learn more every day and should continue our pursuit of exploration and discovery. Yet, we delude ourselves if we believe we will fully unravel such mystery. The more we learn, the more we realize how much we don’t know and how much more there is to learn. As astronomer Maria Mitchell journaled in 1854,
“The world of learning is so broad, and the human soul is so limited in power! We reach forth and strain every nerve, but we seize only a bit of the curtain that hides the infinite from us.”
Solomon, the wise and ancient king of Israel, wrestled with this mystery. He used the imagery of wind throughout his book Ecclesiastes to describe the fleeting nature of life and its futility.
“Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.”
Ecclesiastes 11:4-5 NIV
The understanding that he couldn’t control the wind and the weather, and certainly not the future, resulted in despair for this great king. The fact that he could achieve so much and yet find so much more beyond his reach and control made him despair of life and its meaning.
Jesus also used the imagery of wind, yet in a different manner. When Jesus was describing to a great leader of the Jewish community what it meant to be a child of God, he said the following:
“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.”
John 3:8 NIV
Paul wrote to the Roman church that “all who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God (Romans 8:14 NIV). ” For me, this redeems the imagery of wind from futility to fruitfulness. Though wind is a mystery beyond comprehension, and though we don’t see the entire picture, we can be led by the wind of God’s Spirit in our lives. And just as we see the impact of the wind within the trees, upon the seas and on the face of the mountains, so we see the fruit of the Spirit in a person’s life; the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.
Wind
No one knows where the wind will blow,
where it starts, or how far it will go.
Its origin is secret, its destination obscure
Yet its impact felt is all too sure.
Winds swirl and they gust, they thunder and storm
They whimper and whisper and flutter along.
They come and they go, by day and by night
We feel its breezes, though they escape our sight.
Wind is a mystery beyond what we know
Yet felt and known wherever we go.
Such are we who follow the Son
We swirl and we thunder and flutter along.
We watch for His movement
We listen for clues
We know that with Him
We’ve nothing to lose.
So we cling to the wind
The mystery and all
And find in its leading
We’ve found all in all.