I've been thinking a lot about wind lately. A few years ago, I watched a video from a prominent local pastor who was giving his church a series of "mantras" for his church to rally around. Taken from scripture, one of them was: "Catch the Wind." He used this image from Acts at Pentecost about how the Holy Spirit's coming was described as a 'violent wind' (Acts 2:2). And again, Jesus describes those born of the Spirit as wind that goes where it wants to and you can't tell where it has come from or where it is going (John 3). This pastor said that our individual lives, and the life of the church, was likened to a sailboat that needed to raise it's sails to 'catch the wind' wherever it would want to blow. I love that. I try to live that. Though there have been seasons of trying to motorboat my way through life, I love being a good sailor and have tried to follow the Spirit's leading in my life for years.
Almost a year ago, I symbolically 'raised my sails' before the Lord, and told Him I was available wherever His wind would blow. But, since that moment, I'll be honest, there have been months when my sailboat has felt in a state of doldrums. A good sailor needs the wind to move, to slice through the water, to follow the horizon. But, when there is no wind, there is no choice but to wait for the wind to come. The Spirit blows where He wants, when He wants.
But then, very recently, I felt the wind blow to a new opportunity for me professionally and that process was exciting; I finally felt the wind's movement through how the Spirit had been moving my heart for years. I found confirmation as I sought wise counsel through trusted friends and family. And my boat started moving!
But the letting go has been more painful and heartbreaking than I originally thought it would be. So many years of pouring hours of work and prayers into one place and staff and mission is not something easily laid down. Though I am unbelievably excited about this new opportunity, I have been taking stock of this last voyage at sea.
My daily devotional recently led me to the verse in Ecclesiastes 2:11:
"But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless - like chasing the wind."
There is a huge difference between chasing the wind and catching it.
I'm realizing that extreme wisdom and sensitivity to the Spirit is needed to discern the difference between chasing the wind and catching it. Both opportunities are good things involving Kingdom-bringing missions. Both involve the Spirit's wind to enable any forward movement. And yet, for me, for this season, staying where I was would have been like 'chasing the wind.' Just adding accomplishments and accolades when the Spirit was moving my life in other ways would have been wrong... a 'chasing after the wind' as Solomon wisely said and saw in his own life.
And often, 'catching the wind' looks a lot crazier, a lot more like dying to self, to pride, to fame. A lot more like Christ. Catching the wind has no ending I can cling to to say in this beginning moment "this was the right way to go."
But that's what faith is.
It's taking faith - things believed when not yet seen - of a depth I've not previously known to trust the One who blew my sails in this direction. To trust He knows where He's taking my sailboat. That this voyage is the one He's calling me to, and that He knows best.
When you are weighing different directions for your life, I encourage you to bring them before the Lord and ask yourself, "Would this be chasing the wind, or catching it?" May Jesus bless you as you discern, and may He give you courage to catch the wind where it may blow.
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