The Wind

Growing up in the South without air conditioning in the 50’s and 60’s was normal for most folks. You do not bemoan the lack of anything if you never have had it; most people in those decades did not have air conditioning in their houses or cars. We had window fans, that gave us a little reprieve on the dog days of summer. Our vehicles had only “4-60” air conditioning—roll all the windows down and drive 60 mph.

As a child, I remember sitting up close to a fan and having the wind blow across my hot face. We learned to entertain ourselves in the funniest of ways. If you sat on the backside of a fan and did a little humming sound, the fan would morph your voice into a choppy sound. We didn’t have video games, so we had to fight boredom the best we could.

Why do dogs seem aggravated when you blow in their faces, but like to hang their heads out a car window? Maybe, bad breath? I doubt it, they sniff in strange places.

Back to wind. I was thinking of wind this morning, particularly, the difference of wind in your face or the wind at your back.

The term having the wind at your back is like an unseen assistance. Another concept is wind in your sails or a tailwind for an airplane pushing the vessel along on the journey.

Then there is the wind in your face as resistance. It is like a headwind against an airplane that requires more force to travel and usually slows the pace.

In life we experience both. We appreciate the extra push with the wind of assistance but decry the wind of resistance that slows our efforts.

When we journey with Jesus, we have the tailwind of the Spirit of God, pushing us along. The Spirit is called the Comforter, the One who accompanies us on our journey and gives us power, assistance, and direction.

In life, we also have an adversary that tries to impede our progress. The name of Satan means adversary. He comes to stop us or at least hinder us in our journey.

“When we had put to sea from there, 
we sailed under the shelter of Cyprus, 
because the winds were contrary” 
(Apostle Paul, Acts 27:4 NKJV).

We have become too familiar with difficulties until we have un-personalized the source. When talking about life’s difficulties, we say, “Well, that’s just life!” We need to understand that there is an evil wind blowing from the devil trying to hinder our progress.

Even as Christians, we often un-personalize the work of the Holy Spirit with our words. When we are blessed with an added push forward, we might attribute it to luck or being fortunate. We need to acknowledge and ask the Holy Spirit to empower our journey of life.

There is a real enduement of power we can receive from the Holy Spirit to increase our forward momentum. It is not a plus but a necessary element to our effort in life and ministry.

Please realize the tailwind of the Spirit is stronger than the headwind of the Adversary. Pray for more power of the Holy Spirit and pray against the contrary winds of the Devil.

“For our gospel did not come to you in word only, 
but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit 
and in much assurance, 
as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake” 
(Apostle Paul, 1 Thessalonians 1:5 NKJV).

My prayer: “Blow wind blow of the Spirit. Push me past the roadblocks and the stumbling blocks of the enemy. Help me to lean into the opposing winds and take another step forward with the power of God. May the Lord fill our sails with His great power, so we can sail pass the waves of opposition.”

Yours in the Journey,

Harry L. Whitt