The Breath of God

Wake up refreshed in the morning and grab a cup of coffee. When one-steps outside and feels the cool spring breeze softly blowing, one can recall the moment. The wind is sometimes soft and refreshing with a message of a great day coming. Often without notice things change during the spring and thunderstorms arise. The dead has risen and the storm tosses it violently winds to where it is almost impossible to catch a breath. The weather radio sounds like a trumpet sounding warning. The warning about the winds that are causing turbulent tunnels called tornadoes.

Uneven heating of the earth's surface causes wind by the sun. The heat absorbed by the ground or water is transferred to the air, where it causes differences in air temperature, density and pressure. These differences, in turn, create forces that push the air around.

On a global scale, the temperature difference between the tropics and the poles drives the trade winds, which act as a giant heat exchanger to keep the equator from becoming even hotter and the poles from becoming even colder. On a much smaller scale, temperature differences between land and sea and between mountains and valleys often create strong breezes. Wind direction and speed are affected by other factors, as well, such as the earth's rotation, local topographical features and the roughness of terrain.

Here are a few facts about wind:

a. SEATTLE - The Earth can be a windy place at times. But probably no spot is windier than the top of Mount Washington, N.H., which holds the record for the highest wind gust ever recorded: 231 mph on April 12, 1934

b. Hurricanes are also well known for their furious wind speeds, but the strongest hurricanes recorded had wind speeds between 160 and 190 mph.

c. The windiest place in the world is in Antarctica where in 1951 winds averaged 40 mph through the year and averaged 65 mph during the month of March.

Wind is moving air, and this fresh air is needed continually for life itself. Even seeds of trees and plants often require wind for their dispersal and subsequent growth. Wind has no material shape or form. It is invisible; we cannot see the source or the destination of wind. It is a mysterious, unseen force. Yet the effects of the winds make known its presence.

I Kings 19 :10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." 11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD , for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD , but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 14 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."

Wind is a powerful force. It cannot be stopped or controlled by people. There is great variety in the wind. It may be a soft whisper gently rustling the leaves on the trees, or it may be a hurricane uprooting trees.

The wind reminds me of the breathe of God. How can it compare? God is all around.. he breathed.. life into man. Genesis 27 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. He created air. Numbers 11:31 wind went out before the Lord and drove quail. Then its writers speak of the Spirit of God as wind, they have in mind the thought of vigor, of enormous energy ... almost, you might say, of violence. So Isa. 30:28, "His breath is like an overflowing stream that reaches up to the neck."

This is what Jesus meant when he spoke of the Spirit as a wind to Nicodemus. "It blows where it wills. You hear the sound of it, but you know neither where it comes from nor where it goes to." (John 3:8) No one can tame the wind; no more can anyone tame the Spirit of God. You cannot 'domesticate' Him. He may affect us, as the wind does, but over Him we have no control at all, any more than we have over the wind. Like the wind He is invisible, but real ... powerful, but free - not subject to man. 2 Timothy 316All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

Take a fan and plug it in and turn it on. Put your wind into a balloon and blow it up to mid size. Now take the small fan and turn it on its back to where the air is blowing straight up to the ceiling. Now place the balloon on top of the fan and let go. See how the balloon floats. when you turn the fan almost vertical the balloon floats in mid air.

God supports us by His spirit. He guides us to where He desires. Watch a sailboat and notice how the wind blows the sail in order for the boat to move. What does wind have to do with our lives? Sometimes it's a gentle breeze as if it was a reminder that God is near by. Sometimes it's a wild breeze as if it was a warning of the paths we are traveling. Sometimes it's not noticeable only because we have shielded our lives from Him. The wind may blow but it is our choice to move the rudder to stir the boat to be driven by the wind. It is our choice to put God first in our life in order for God to move us and be driven by Him. The next time you go outside think about the wind. You can't see the wind as like with God you cannot see Him. You can see the effects of the wind as like you can see the effects of God's wondrous power. The air is all around you as like God is always there. He will guide you but are you going with the wind or are you going to fight the wind and try to go where you want? Listen to the wind. I like the idea of the Native American Chief Plenty Horses, from Oglala Teton Black Hills, Says, "Listen to the wind and hear our elders as they speak. As long as the wind blows we are all one, connected under this blue bowl of the sky."

To put the saying in a Biblical sense, Listen to the wind and hear the Lord speak as he once did to Elijah. Since God breathed his air into us we are made in His image. As God's word is life of breath and we fill our hearts with his breath then we will be connected as one at the end of time." It is God's will to work in us and He will guide us for He has given to us everything pertaining to life and godliness. Are you willing to open your sails of life and allow God to direct you over the troubled waters?