“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.”
(Acts 2:2)
As a friend of mine would say, I had a God-wink from heaven this morning.
I have been totally exhausted this week – can hardly put-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other kind of exhausted. As I walked our gargantuan puppy, Blue, this morning, my Jesus met me on our lazy country road. Not literally, but His Spirit was there in all His Glory. You see, I didn’t want to walk this morning, but I knew I needed to and I knew Blue loved it. But, seriously, I could hardly put one foot in front of the other.
I prayed as I walked.
And I sang a little praise song.
And I willed my body to keep going.
That’s when it happened.
A roar came up over the mountain and trumpeted through the treetops. The trees swayed like pendulums, back and forth, back and forth as the mighty, rushing wind sounded its presence.
Or should I say, sounded HIS Presence.
Blue and I stood still for a moment and watched the heavenly display. I sensed the Presence of the Lord – His peace, His joy, His strength. Oh, how I needed His strength.
I thought of the scriptures I have learned lately that directly link the Spirit of God to the wind: Psalm 18:10, “He flew upon the wings of the wind.” Or, Psalm 104:3, “Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind.” And of course, Acts 2:2 which describes the Spirit of God as sounding like a mighty, rushing wind.
This is interesting. The Hebrew word for wind (Old Testament verses) is ruach (roo’-ach) which means wind as we know it and also refers to breath. The Greek word for wind (New Testament) is pnoe (pno-ay’) meaning wind as we know it and breath!
The wind was as the breath of God!
The breath of God blew over me this morning bringing me strength and rest.
The breath of God blew over me this morning bringing renewal to my weary bones.
Won’t you sing with me?
BREATHE ON ME
Breathe on me, Breath of God, Fill me with life anew,
That I may love what Thou dost love, And do what Thou wouldst do.
Breathe on me, Breath of God, Until my heart is pure,
Until with Thee I will Thy will, To do and to endure.
Breathe on me, Breath of God, Till I am wholly Thine,
Till all this earthly part of me glows with Thy fire divine.
Breathe on me, Breath of God, So shall I never die,
But live with Thee the perfect life of Thine eternity.
Isn’t our Lord wonderful?
May you feel His breath on you this day.
Father, What would I do without You? Your love is amazing. Thank You so much for giving me strength this day. Thank You for the heavenly display of Your Glory. I love You, Lord.
That gave me goosebumps!! May His breath continue to give you strength, Nan, and allow you a wonderful weekend!!
lvyou!!
It's so wonderful when that happens. I've felt that many times during the past couple of months. Now I'm back from the Mount of Transfiguration, sadly. Too quick-tempered for my taste (and my husband and baby's). But well, still very aware of His continued forgiveness and mercy and lovingkindness.
Ruach is also the word for Spirit. Holy Spirit in Hebrew is Ruach HaKodesh. We find a clear association in Scripture between the HS and the wind. There is a passage in 1 Kings 19 that is really precious to me.
And he said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave
My Spanish version renders the whisper "a soft breeze". Because the Lord's voice can be heard and His presence felt in many ways. Right then, when Elijah felt so discouraged about Jezebel's threats and the apostasy of the nation, he needed to feel the Lord's voice of encouragement. It came as a soft breeze.
Sometimes you can almost physically feel Jesus wrapping His arms around you. There's a warmth in your chest. A real sense of His company and support. We all need that every now and then.
Glad to find He's hugging you.