CATCH THE WIND!

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25 NIV).

The apostle Paul challenged the Galatian believers to continually live “by the Spirit,” contrasting the life controlled by the sinful nature with the life led by the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:16-22). In straightforward terms, the Apostle explained that these two ways of life are at war with each other.

As Paul explained the opposite nature of the two ways of life, he contrasted the “fruits” that each lifestyle brings forth. The “fruits” of the self-life include immorality, drunkenness, selfish ambition, drug abuse, hatred—and the list goes on (5:19-21). In contrast and at war with the self-life is the Spirit-led life. The “fruits” of the Spirit include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (5:22-23). I love the way the Apostle finishes this section of teaching when he says in verse 25 to “let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

Paul is encouraging all believers to stay in harmony with the Spirit. The original word for “in step” means to be in line with, to be in agreement, to follow. Another way to express this would be, “Since by the Holy Spirit we are alive in God, then let us go forward in step with the Spirit’s control and direction.”

How do we learn to get “in step with the Spirit” of God? How do we let the Spirit take the lead and lift our life to one filled with His purpose and fruitfulness?

One of the metaphors used in Scripture to describe the Holy Spirit is “the wind” (see Acts 2:2, John 3:8). If the Holy Spirit is like “the wind” then “getting in step with the Spirit” could be described as “catching the wind.”

Sailing vessels are empowered by raising their sails to catch the wind. There are at least three ways that we can personally raise our sails and “catch the wind” of the Spirit.

1. The Word
Don’t ever let the devil tell you that the Word is dry, boring and out of date—that’s a lie and he knows it, and so should we. Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is living and active.” 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is God-breathed…”and that means that the Holy Spirit is in and on every page. When you read the Word, expect the Holy Spirit to speak to you.

The wind of the Spirit is blowing through the Word.

2. Worship
It is in worship, perhaps more than in any other act, that we continually show our dependency on Him. By His Spirit, God responds to the humility that true worship requires and He draws near to the humble. The proud in spirit sing and make noise but they do not worship.

“But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3).

The wind of the Spirit blows when worship is taking place.

3. Prayer
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Ephesians 6:18, NIV).

Like worship, prayer that touches God is honest, confident, humble and submissive. When we pray honestly, God responds. When we pray using our spiritual language, we are activating the Holy Spirit and the wind of the Spirit begins to blow.

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15, NKJV).

The wind of the Spirit blows when we pray!

There is a current television show called “Dancing with the Stars.” The premise is simple; a celebrity is matched with a professional dancer and they practice and practice together, enter into a competition, and hope to win the prize. The professional dancer is the lead in the duo and the celebutard is the follower.

In any successful dance team, there can only be one leader; the partner will learn to anticipate and follow. This is the type of harmony we can have with the Holy Spirit if we let Him take the lead. When we “catch the wind” and let the Holy Spirit lead, our klutzy efforts to be a success spiritually are transformed into a flowing portrait of beauty and grace.

The apostle Peter understood this principle of catching the wind of the Spirit. “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along [moved] by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21, NIV). One of the tragedies of the charismatic and Pentecostal world is the presumption that we know best what the Holy Spirit should do and then attempting to get Him to go the way we want rather than letting Him take the lead. When that happens, we definitely are not in step with the Spirit!

The following picture comes to mind when we think about being in step with the Spirit: Our sail is up, we have caught “the wind,” and He then carries us where He is going.

And that’s where we want to be!