The other morning I was driving to campus and noticed that the flags on top of Lane Stadium were blowing in the wind. Although I’ve driven by the stadium hundreds of times, for some reason on this particular morning, I noticed that the flags at the top were waving strongly in the blustery Blacksburg wind. Something inside me jumped. An unexpected sense of anticipation and excitement rose within me. Seeing the flags reminded me of the excitement I felt last summer when I was learning to sail on Lake George.
When sailing, obviously the wind is necessary to go very far. If you don’t have wind, you don’t sail. It’s a fairly simple concept. When I was first getting started, I learned how to position my boat in a way to most effectively capture the wind. And after struggling for minutes (which felt like hours) there was something powerfully exciting when you saw a fluttering sail suddenly fill with air and then feel your boat lurch forward! As simple as it sounds, when I was floating around Lake George struggling to find the direction of the wind, it was REALLY exciting to finally feel the sail catch the wind and my boat take off across the water.
Seeing the flags flying atop of Lane Stadium reminded me how the wind comes like a breath of fresh air, like something new has come alive. It also made me think of how the Holy Spirit works. Many times in the Bible, the Holy Spirit is described like wind or breath. And just like when flags and sailboats move with the wind, you can’t always see the source, but you can see evidence of when and where it is moving.
As we pursue Christ and seek to bring God’s Kingdom here to earth, are we looking to see where the Spirit is moving? Many times, we try this and that, without much thought to the Spirit. But in reality, our efforts are maximized when we seek to find where the Spirit is already moving, and then join in.
So where do see the wind blowing? Where do you see the Spirit moving? How can you join in there? Whenever you see flags flying or sailboats traversing, may you be reminded of the power of the Holy Spirit.
~David McCann, Staff