Wind & Fire

Wind and Fire

There are two attributes of Holy Spirit that particularly appeal to me – wind and fire. I think probably it’s the dramatic possibilities that give substance to their appeal. I mean, what can be more terrifying than a wildfire, out of control, driven by a really strong wind? And we are told that God was not in the earthquake, wind, or fire, but in the whisper – that still small voice. Holy Spirit is the communicator of the Trinity. He is the teacher, the guide.

However, the Bible speaks of Him in terms of the “Ruach” – the mighty wind of God. It also says that He baptises us with fire. So what is so special about wind and fire?

Have you ever been for a walk along a cliff path on a sunny day? The wind is so refreshing, maybe even bracing. Yet we love the feel of that wind – in our face, in our hair (if we have any), tugging gently and not so gently at our clothes. It is the refreshing quality that I like – my face tingles when I turn into the wind. I may even get a little red faced, not from exertion but from the force of the wind. It’s at moments like that I can hear Gods voice. There is a stillness in the wind where Gods voice lurks – waiting for us to be still and listen.

Then the wind stirs afresh as the Holy Spirit picks out the next thought He wants to send us; the next whisper He wants to speak to us. Sometimes that Ruach works up to a storm that tears slates from the rooftops. Yet once again, Holy Spirit is waiting for us to be still in the storm just long enough for Him to speak to us once again.

In the midst of the storms of life is when we need to quieten ourselves to listen to His gentle whisper.

Fire is a different thing altogether. Indeed, Holy Spirit came to the upper room that first Pentecost as flames of fire. Fire was the first experience for man of the presence of Holy Spirit and the first manifestation of His power. Yet it was a pillar of fire that led the Children of Israel for 40 years. It was fire in a bush that called Moses to Gods service. It was fire that Elijah called down on Mount Carmel. It was fire that upgraded Daniels reputation in Nebuchadnezzar’s court. God had always been more than willing to use fire to demonstrate His point to man.

When fire touches anything, it changes it. So it is with Holy Spirit fire – it changes us and we are never the same again. So it was when Pentecost came – the disciples and followers, all 120 of them, were changed never to be the same again.

Oh to hear the Ruach of God and to experience that little flame of Holy Spirit fire. Let me never be the same again Lord, and let those who join me there also carry the wind and fire of God into their small corner of your world. Amen ???