Outrageous Wind – 4: A Place of Hope

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  Isaiah 55:8-9

There are some things in life that are difficult to explain because we cannot see them, yet we know they are there.

Wind is one of those things.

You cannot see the wind, but you can see the effects of it. A light wind can begin to remove the leaves from the trees. A powerful storm can uproot trees that seemed impossible to move. Hurricane-force winds can reshape coastlines and destroy beachfront homes. A tornado can pick up cars and throw buildings around as if they were toys.

You may not be able to see the wind itself, but there is no denying its presence.

That is how the Spirit of God works.

We may not physically see Him, but when the Spirit of God moves, there will be evidence of His presence.

The Spirit of God Has Always Moved

The moving of God’s Spirit did not begin in Acts 2. We see His Spirit moving throughout Scripture, beginning in Genesis.

David Guzik, commenting on Acts 2, explains that the sound of the mighty rushing wind would have immediately reminded those who knew the Hebrew Scriptures of the presence of the Holy Spirit. The way God’s Spirit worked was not a surprise to those who understood Scripture.

The Spirit Brings Order to Chaos

In Genesis 1:1–2, we see the Spirit of God moving over the waters of the newly created earth. The earth was formless, dark, and filled with chaos: and then the Spirit of God moved.

When God’s Spirit moved, creation began.

There are moments when we need the Spirit of God to move into our own chaos. We need Him to move into our darkness. We cannot put our lives back together without His Spirit.

People may try to fix their lives without God, but sometimes all they are doing is moving their chaos into different compartments. We cannot simply sweep darkness and chaos under the rug and expect our lives to be changed.

We need the Spirit of God to move.

The Spirit Gives Life

Genesis 2:7 shows another picture of the Spirit of God as the breath of God. God breathed life into newly created man, and Adam became a living soul.

Adam had no life until God breathed into him.

And sometimes, we can be physically breathing while life has completely taken the breath out of us. We can be exhausted, discouraged, and spiritually drained.

We cannot do this life without Jesus.

We need spiritual CPR: and only the Spirit of God can revive us.

When the Spirit Moves, Dry Bones Live

Perhaps one of the clearest pictures of the Spirit of God bringing life is found in Ezekiel 37.

The prophet Ezekiel stood in a valley filled with dry bones. There was no flesh. There was no life. There was nothing that looked capable of becoming alive again.

But God spoke.

“Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again!”  Ezekiel 37:5 NLT

As Ezekiel prophesied, the bones began to come together. Muscles and flesh formed over them. Skin covered their bodies.

But there was still no breath.

Then God commanded Ezekiel to speak to the winds:

“Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.”  Ezekiel 37:9 NLT

And the breath came into them.

They came to life.

This is the hope of the Spirit of God: what looks dead and impossible can be changed in a moment by His Spirit.

Anything that is dead in your life can come to life when the Spirit of God begins to move on you and in you. What looks impossible to you is not impossible for God.

An Outrageous Wind

The word outrageous means exceeding the bounds of what is usual, reasonable, expected, or acceptable. It describes something astonishingly bold and extreme.

And God’s promises are exactly that.

His promises exceed the bounds of what is usual, reasonable, expected, or acceptable.

There are things God can do that go beyond what we could ever expect.

There are situations that look too far gone.

There are dreams that seem dead.

There are lives that appear broken beyond repair.

But when the Spirit of God moves, dead things can live again.

Pentecost Is for Everyone

Pentecost is not simply a denomination or a religion. It is an experience of God’s power, God’s grace, and the fulfillment of His long-awaited promise.

And Pentecost is not reserved for a select few.

Pentecost is for everyone.

Acts 10 would later demonstrate that God does not show favoritism when it comes to the outpouring of His Spirit. God is not selectively deciding who He will make alive and who He will help put back together through His Spirit.

If you are hungry for God, His outrageous wind wants to blow on you and in you.

When the Wind Blew at Pentecost

Then we come to Acts 2.

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.”  Acts 2:1–2

The Spirit of God filled the room.

There was a sound like a rushing mighty wind. There appeared tongues like fire. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.

The invisible Spirit produced visible results.

That is what happens when the Spirit of God moves.

You may not be able to see the wind itself, but you can see what happens when it blows.

You may not be able to physically see the Spirit of God, but when He moves, lives change, hearts are renewed, and dead things come alive.

Let the Wind Blow

Maybe you feel like your life is full of chaos.

Maybe you feel exhausted.

Maybe there are areas of your life that seem dry and lifeless.

Maybe something you once had hope for now looks impossible.

The message of the Spirit is simple:

The wind can still blow.

The same Spirit that moved over the waters in Genesis, breathed life into Adam, brought life to the dry bones of Ezekiel 37, and filled the upper room in Acts 2 is still the Spirit of God.

What looks dead does not have to stay dead.

What looks impossible does not have to remain impossible.

Let His outrageous wind blow.

Because when the Spirit moves, dry bones can live again.