I have watched Father Sky change the colors in his sky sketch all day. He began with a vanilla cloud colored overcast sky this morning, adding touches of cigar smoke grey, aqua and purple, moving the clouds close together, then letting the wind push them away to leave a clear blue sky dotted with white fluffy clouds. As the wind picked up the clouds quickly moved together again to overcast the blue heavens, blocking the sun’s rays with their bellies full of rain.

The wind has been ferocious this afternoon. I sat in the swing watching the leaves tumble down the street, watching the old oaks and magnolias hold forth in the strong gusts, bending their limbs and trunks. In my imagination I saw Old Man Winter lean over, purse his lips and blow all the fallen leaves past my house to the end of the street. Penelope didn’t like the rattle of the leaves hitting the road. She napped in the house while I enjoyed the wind dancing in my neighborhood. The bamboo are swaying in the wind, slapping their trunks together, doing the twist, inspired by Chubby Checkers’ 1960’s dance hit. I can hear the music in my mind as I watch the bamboo dance.

In the Bible the wind is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is like the wind, whirling around changing things. We don’t know where the wind comes from or where it goes. Scripture in John 3:8 reads, “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.” The Holy Spirit is an invisible powerful force that can be felt as a presence in our lives.

The Holy Spirit is said to work in mysterious ways just as the wind blows unseen. Genesis 1:2 states, “The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” God’s breath, as a mighty wind, hovered over the darkness and breathed life into existence.

When the wind blows it can change things. When the Holy Spirit moves it gives us strength and empowers us to accomplish things we thought were impossible. John 14:26 reads, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

When the wind blows your life off course, trust God and the Holy Spirit to adjust the sails.

“Trying to do the Lord’s work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you.” — Corrie ten Boom