The Winds of God
Jeremiah 48:11 "Moab has been at ease since his youth; He has also been undisturbed on his lees, Neither has he been emptied from vessel to vessel, Nor has he gone into exile. Therefore he retains his flavor, And his aroma has not changed.
(Hint to pastors: you can use the text above to talk about how, if our lives don’t experience shifting, and change, we will not fully develop to the flavor God wants for us.)
This is a message about how God uses winds to stir things and bring about change.
A change in season is often foreshadowed by strong winds. I believe the current financial meltdown is a sign of a change in spiritual season.
There is a scripture in this regard that troubles me:
Jer 8:20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
One thing is for sure, that as regards the upcoming spiritual season we need to Pray attention to it!
Wind in scripture is emblamatic of the Holy Spirit, in fact the Old Testament word for spirit is "ruach" which means wind. It is also emblamatic of troubles that come to stir things up so that we don’t end up like Moab as described in the Jeremiah passage.
Song of Solomon 4:16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, [that] the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.
Troubles and difficulties is often the wind of God blowing across the coals of your life.
3 Main winds God uses to stir us up and cause spices to flow from the garden of our life.
1. Wind from the Word
2. Wind from the World
3. Wind from Within
1. Wind from the Word.
A. What the Word says others have had.
Paul said our salvation should provoke lost people to jealousy (Rom 10:19; 11:11). In a similar vein when we read and see in the word of God what others have had and done it should provoke us to jealousy to be like them.
B. What the Word says I can have.
Not simply what others have had, but what the Word directly says I can have. Mountains can be moved, mighty exploits can be done (Dan 11:32). We are more than conquerors...
C. What the Word says I ought to do or be.
When I read that I am the salt of the earth and the light of the world, it often is a stirring wind from God that reminds me to live and walk in my God appointed destiny. Sin shall not have dominion over you. Whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world...
2. The Second Wind God Uses is wind from the World
Needs of Others. Children with cancer vex my soul, and stir me to prayer that God intervene more. Persecuted Christians, young girls sold into sexual slavery, Lord knows there are enough things going on around us to keep us on our knees. It is when God stirs us up about these things through the wind of conscience that the spices of prayer and practical actions spring from the gardens of our life.
Circumstances
Wars and terrorists, bird flu, mad cow disease, financial recession, all these winds force us as believers to get back to the basics of "seeking first the kingdom of heaven...", and as we do the spice again get flowing. It is God’s way of moving us from decanter to decanter.
The times in which we live.
Every age has its unique challenges, ours is no different. If we are correct that we are very deep into the last days, the scriptures describe this time as more dark and difficult than any that has gone on before.
I am reminded of the Christian hymn, "Onward Christians Soldiers," and this particular phrase from it: "... Let courage rise with danger, and strength to strength oppose."
(Hint to pastors: There is a scene from the first Lord of the Rings video that is awesome at this point in the message. In in Frodo, and Gandal are in the caves of Mooriah and Frodo is saying something about how difficult life is right then, and how he wished he never lived to see such times. Then in a gem of wisdom, Gandalf says, "It is not for us to pick the times in which we live, but to do the best we can with the time allotted us."
Trials can bring out the worst in you, or the best in you. God uses the wind of the world so that spices would flow out of the garden of our life.
The Third Wind God uses is the wind from within
Personal Weaknesses (personality, intelligence, physical constitution etc.)
Personal Failures (Outbursts of anger, lack of compassion, prayerlessness, as we are reminded of these failings of ours God provokes by the wind of conscience to seek higher spiritual ground, as we do the spices begin flowing.
Promptings of the Spirit
Close: Circumstances have no power over you one way or the other, it is what you do with them that determines the quality of your life, and the amount of spices that will flow out from you.
15:11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
It’s not what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you.
Prayer for those desiring God to cause the spices to flow from their spiritual garden.
Preaching hint: Commentaries on the SOS are all over the place on their interpretation, Spurgeon has a couple of excellent messages on this text, you could check as a resource. Link for one of them:
Http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2475.htm
You could also spiritualize north winds as trials that involve not sensing the presence of God in you life (coldness), which drives us to our knees, and south winds as fiery trials that also drive us to our knees.
