A Beautiful Breeze

We often are asked how we are able to be calm, steady or even joyful in the face of the apparent tragedy of losing our infant son. Our recent family devotions may have just revealed the answer.

When a golfer lines up her shot, she studies the contours of the grounds ahead. She must account for distance, hills, valleys, the cut of grass, hazards, and even wind speed and direction, before choosing the proper club. Of these, the most significant variable is the wind. It can change in an instant. She reaches down to pull a tuft of grass, and lets it fall from her fingers as she studies the drifting blades. Having narrowed down her club selection based on the other factors, she makes the final club choice according to the speed and direction revealed by those blades. After all, the wind can make all the difference in a choice between one club or another. She lines up her shot – only to have the wind shift.

The wind seems to do as it pleases, moment to moment changing speed and direction. Its impact must be accounted for. Forecasts for weather, sailing, and a variety of other things depend on computer models that inevitably are imperfect. Jesus even used this concept of the “mystery” of wind in an attempt to explain baptism to Nicodemus.

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

-John 3:5-8

One of the more relevant parts of this passage as it pertains to the question posed to us above is the fact that there are human things (“flesh”) and there are Spiritual things. I have no humanly, earthly explanation for why we remain positive in the face of such a gut-wrenching event. Actually, I am confident that no earthly thing can explain it. If the strength and even joy that we have experienced doesn’t come from us, then it must come from God’s good and gracious will for us.

There have been times over the last year when we have felt a sense of strength and peace that simply cannot be unexplained in logical terms. We are convinced that this is the result of God’s Spirit working within us. And what comes of that Spirit?

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

-Galatians 5:22-23

Paul’s statement here is the stuff of children’s songs (I still have that song ringing in my head from when our daughter sang it several times a day!), but it is very real nonetheless. When we are born of the Spirit, the Spirit bears fruit – good fruit! In fact, I’d say that through prayer and faith in God’s plan for us, we cannot help but bear this fruit – and it is this fruit that is noticed by others. It is certainly not of our own doing, because I’m afraid if it were left to our human weakness we would sulk and despair over how rotten our luck was.

So, why the photo of the open window? Our recent family devotions spoke about the power of the Spirit in the context of Jesus’ description of the wind. The author posed the idea that we are windows, figuratively speaking. If we are closed, then we keep the breeze from entering. However when open up, the breeze rushes in, invigorating and refreshing us! And so the simple choice seems to be whether or not we open ourselves to the Spirit, allowing Him to work within us and as a result, allowing Him to bear good fruit, such as love, joy and peace. If I had the choice of being closed and depressed, or open and joyful, I will gladly choose the latter. So far, it has made all the difference.