Let’s be honest: it’s hard to keep believing for revival when it seems far away. It’s hard to hold to faith that the wind will come when it’s been so long since you’ve felt the faintest breeze. If you’ve ever felt discouraged as you wait and watch and pray for the long-awaited Spirit wind to sweep through your life and the lives around you, know that you’re not alone. I think just about everyone who has prayed for revival has been there. If that’s where you are today, read on.
like a rushing wind
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.
— John 3:8 (ESV)
One of the most common images in the Bible used to depict the Holy Spirit is the wind. That fascinates me. I know metaphors can only be taken so far, but I wonder if there’s more purpose to this picture than we might realize, if the wind is intended to help us better understand the ways of the Spirit and how He works.
Reflecting on the Spirit and the wind, I can think of seven parallels.
How He Comes
Sometimes He comes softly, stirring blades of grass with a gentle, soothing breeze. Sometimes He appears with more power, shaking trees and breaking branches. Still other times He arises in all His might, a whirlwind that stirs wildfire flames (Acts 2:1–4).
How He Goes
You may get used to the Spirit’s presence and fail to pay attention to Him any more, but if He leaves, you will notice. You can talk about Him all you want, but if He is not present, the atmosphere becomes still and stale, absent of signs of life. As Jim Cymbala writes,
It is not enough to teach and preach about the Spirit. We must experience him personally in new depths, or we will accomplish little. Without the Holy Spirit there is no quickening of the Scripture. Worship is hollow. Preaching is mechanical, never piercing the heart. Conviction of sin is almost nonexistent. Faith is more mental than heartfelt. Prayer meetings fade away. Church meetings become routine. And Christian people stay lukewarm at best.
Please, God, send the Holy Spirit upon us and revive your people.1
Not Controlled by Man
Man can channel a wind that is already blowing, but he cannot create it in the first place. People can manufacture wind, but man-made wind is not the same as the real thing. There is no substitute for the presence of the Holy Spirit. And while we can pray for Him to come and create an atmosphere where He is welcome, we cannot force Him to act. After we’ve done all we can, we must quietly wait for Him to move in His time.
Signs of His Presence
While you cannot see the Holy Spirit, you can witness signs of His presence all around you when He is near. He will speak to you through the Word, bringing the Scriptures to life and teaching you how to apply them in everyday situations (John 14:26, John 16:13). He will give you strength to resist temptation and follow God’s commands. He will instill in you both the desire and the power you need to grow in Him. He will probably show up in other ways you might not expect, so keep your eyes open.
What He Does
The Holy Spirit scatters seeds of new growth, strengthens what is already growing, and strips away what is dead. He convicts (John 16:7–11), calls (Acts 13:2), empowers (1 Corinthians 12:11), and guides (Romans 8:14).
Unseen Power
Like the wind, the Spirit is an unseen power. Going against His leading is like trying to walk into a wall of wind. It’s not that everything will be easy when you are following the Spirit’s leading. There will be hardships along the way, but through it all, you can cling to the peace of His presence with you guiding you through. With the wind behind you nudging you forward, you can go much farther than if you had tried to go on your own (1 Kings 18:45–46).
Always Moving
Just as the wind is always moving, so it is with the Holy Spirit. He is always moving, always laboring to bring forth God’s purpose. He is never not working.
hope to hold on
God surrounds us. Our memories of those times and places and moments of God acting spectacularly, or very quietly and almost imperceptibly so that you can barely tell God is in the room, are all markers in our spiritual journeys that we can turn to when we need them. We will need them. We will need to remember when we saw God so closely or felt him like the gentlest of breezes, because there will be so many times when we feel like God is distant.
— Karen Stiller
Imagine that you are standing in a field of wheat on a windy day. Sometimes the wind sets the whole field astir, but not always. Sometimes the place where you’re standing is still unmoved. But the wind is always stirring somewhere. So if you can’t see signs of the Spirit wind stirring right next to you, look to another place where you see Him moving. Remember how He has shown up in the past, and trust that He will come through again. Keep your eyes open for the smallest stirrings.
It’s hard to wait for revival when it seems far away, but it’s easier to hold on when you can see signs of the Spirit’s work. Listen for the whispers of the wind all around you. And remember that the wind is always moving.
- Jim Cymbala, Fresh Power (Grand Rapids: ZondervanPublishingHouse, 2001), 49.
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