Drifting on the Wind of the Spirit

A few weeks ago, we had the great opportunity to go on a hot air balloon ride, a goal since our honeymoon almost two years ago when the weather wasn’t conducive to flying.

As we took off early in the morning, I was very surprised by how different it was from my expectations; there was no sensation of flying.  Since we were moving with the air currents, we felt no wind, no air movement at all except when we moved down into an air mass moving slightly slower than we were.  There was also no noise aside from the burner and what little noise there is from a rural landscape at 6:30 am: a dog barking, a train moving goods along the tracks, and birds greeting the rising sun.  The scenery below us simply slipped smoothly and silently by, almost too casually, as if our being hundreds of feet above the ground in a small basket suspended by nylon fabric and hot air were the most natural thing in the world.  It was quite surreal.

Our flight was over too quickly and we landed in a farmer’s field, packed up and went on with our day.

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As I reflected on the experience later, I was reminded of an excerpt from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers:

If we are in fellowship and oneness with God and recognize that He is taking us into His purposes, then we will no longer strive to find out what His purposes are.  As we grow in the Christian life, it becomes simpler to us, because we are less inclined to say, “I wonder why God allowed this or that?”  And we begin to see that the compelling purpose of God lies behind everything in life, and that God is divinely shaping us into oneness with that purpose.  A Christian is someone who trusts in the knowledge and the wisdom of God, not in his own abilities.  If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the calm, relaxed pace which should be characteristic of the children of God. (from August 5 devotional)

Our balloon ride was a picture of our lives as followers of Christ.  The Holy Spirit, Who has been likened to both wind (see John 3:8) and fire (see 1 Thessalonians 5:19 and Acts 2:1-4), keeps us afloat and moves us as He wills – up, down, this direction or that.  My only job is to sit tight in the basket, enjoy the view and trust the Pilot.  I have no wings, no propeller, no jet engine, not even a rudder with which to take control.  My life should take on that simple, calm, and relaxed quality Chambers speaks of as I rest in my basket, rather than the frenzied pace I’ve been keeping, trying to control my life’s direction and speed.  I want to stop my striving and enjoy the ride and my Pilot, which is both the most natural (what I was made for) and the most unnatural (going against my selfish nature) thing to do.

 For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue).
1 Peter 1:3, Amplified Bible

Thankfully, God has given us all we need to stop striving and follow Him simply by knowing Him more fully, “personally and intimately” as the Message Translation of this verse puts it.

 

Are you peacefully drifting with the Holy Spirit or anxiously striving on your own?