“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 3:8)
I recently had a long flight that took seven hours one direction and five hours the other direction. We went the same distance each time, but the difference was in the wind. When flying into a headwind, a plane burns more fuel to travel more slowly. When flying with a tailwind, a plane burns less fuel to travel more quickly.
Life with God is a lot like a flight. Sin, folly, rebellion, and laziness make our lives feel like we’re flying into a headwind. On the other hand, obedience, holiness, godliness, and perseverance make it feel like we’re flying with a tailwind. This constant spiritual battle is invisible to us, but it determines the course of our lives as only one can control our course.
When Jesus says that the Holy Spirit is like the wind, one of His main points is that God’s power can come to bless your life and accelerate your progress. To be sure, life is hard, and even those who walk in God’s will hit turbulence and see the oxygen masks drop now and then. But, as a general rule, living surrendered to God and following His will for your life is a lot better than flying against it. God can intervene in ways that you never thought possible and can only account to His supernatural saving power.
How about you? Is your life currently flying with or against the current of the Holy Spirit?