the wind

In the book, “Heart of the Artist,” Rory Noland asks the reader to choose a verse that reflects your passion. For me this verse is John 3:8, “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.”

The wind represents the Holy Spirit, who is wild and untamed. The Spirit is in constant motion, working through us and in us. When the wind of the Spirit blows, you hear it and you see the footprint of the Spirit’s work, but you cannot decipher what the Spirit will do next. It is impossible to nail God down. He isn’t tame and he isn’t predictable. Jesus didn’t do what people expected and he didn’t appear as people expected. God doesn’t follow our guidelines. He cannot be put on a leash. Like the wind, he is wild and free and unpredictable. John tells us that those who choose to follow in God’s footsteps will take on this characteristic of God. People will not be able to tell where we come from or where we are going.

I love the mystery surrounding God, yet at times I wish his image was more focused. God can be difficult to recognize. Jesus revealed the heart of God in all he said and did, yet, there were many who did not recognize God in Christ because the image they saw didn’t fit the one they drew up in their minds.

In the verses leading up to John 3:8, Jesus is having a conversation with Nicodemus about being born again. This is a difficult concept and though Nicodemus is a learned man, he cannot grasp it. He is thinking literally, reigning in his thoughts and tucking his ideas into concise little boxes. Jesus is encouraging him to free himself of his mental chains. I understand the confusion of Nicodemus. Though God tells me I am free, that the power given me through Christ is limitless, many times I feel weighted down, caged in. I feel predictable, limited, tame. In those moments my mind cannot grasp the heavenly visions because by body is weighted down in the mire of earthly things.

But though my body might be stuck in the gravitational pull of this world, my soul is reaching toward heaven.

My desire is to free myself and others from the clutches of the mundane and lifeless…
to be rid of the chains that bind us…
to realize who we are, who we truly are…
to be free and alive…
to be like the wind.