Strong Winds
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ––Acts 2:1-2
A Santa Ana wind event is like true love: You will know it when you see it. It’s hard to describe what these unique winds are like, typically hitting Southern California in the fall or early winter. The science is straightforward, as UCLA professor Robert Fovell explains:
“The Santa Ana winds are a cool season wind that blows from the desert, raising dust, fanning fires and, according to popular literature at least, making people crazy and homicidal. Santa Anas are always dry, a result of subsidence from their place of origin over the higher elevation Great Basin of Nevada and Utah. During the fall and early winter, the winds can also be quite hot as well, and are one of the reasons why September is the warmest month of the year in Los Angeles.”
I happen to love the surprisingly warm evenings that come with the Santa Anas, but when the gusts get nasty—100 to 150 mph at their worst—and the wild fires start up, it’s not fun.
Wind, of course, plays a prominent role in God’s Word, often representing His Holy Spirit or His movement on the Earth. Jesus used wind to teach godly Nicodemus about the Holy Spirit:
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
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.
I can think of few Scripture passages that sum up better both the beautiful nature of the Holy Spirit and the wonder of the wind than the one above. Jesus is articulating that which is incomprehensible for those who still see through a glass darkly, which is all of us: The Spirit of God cannot be touched or quantified, it can only be experienced through His Son.
Like the Santa Ana winds, we can’t touch or see the Holy Spirit—but we can feel His presence and see His handiwork. The kindness of a stranger when we are stranded on a deserted highway; the love of a parent who comforted us when our teen heart was broken; the miracle of salvation that comes to the former addict who turns his life over to Christ.
Take a moment to thank God for His Spirit—the presence we can’t see, but whose effects in our lives are so readily apparent.
Father, thank You for sending Your Spirit to be with me here in this world. May I get to know Him better!
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1 https://people.atmos.ucla.edu/fovell/LATimes_SantaAna.html