Gone with the wind

The fact that climatologists can now predict and explain wind should not confuse the meaning of John 3:8’s metaphor.

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. — John 3:8 NIV

The wind (same word as “Spirit” in Koine Greek) appears inexplicably (to the First Century observer). It is invisible, unannounced, unanticipated. It can be powerful (think of a hurricane). It scatters seed. No where is beyond its reach on the face of the planet. You can’t stop it.

So are our prayers. We cannot guess what God is going to do. We should pray generally and specifically, but we should not boast about knowing what God has up His sleeve. We should believe for huge and impossible things, both close and far. We should not be surprised when the Iron Curtain falls or when the vilest of sinners gets saved. We should know our Lord uses His Spirit and can reach where spy satellites and drones cannot. He can get into people’s minds. Even the devil is blind-sided. That is the nature of the Spirit’s move.

Our prayers should take into account His ability to do anything, anywhere, any time. He’ll do what we least expect, so we should expect it. He’ll move anywhere, so we should pray for nations closed to the gospel. He’ll hit tomorrow, so we should pray today.

Opposition will switch to ally when the Spirit moves. All resistance will be “gone with the wind.”

Breaching enemy lines

Natanz plant

Stuxnet initially breached Iran‘s uranium enrichment facility at Natanz by simply agents dropping an infected thumbdrive in the parking lot. Some knucklehead picked it up, connected it to a work computer, and the virus was in — and it throttled thousands of centrifuges out of commission before and after it was detected.

To avoid cyberwarfare attacks, the plant had been isolated by a “cyber moat” from the Internet. As it turns out, it wasn’t so difficult for CIA agents to leap the moat.

I know how to get behind enemy lines and thwart their plans even better. It’s called prayer. The Spirit, Jesus said, comes and goes without anybody being aware. It is the ultimate stealth weapon. When an outsider report from the 1980s affirmed no visible vestige of Christianity in China, still revival flames were burning, and no one was never able to snuff it out.

The devil suppresses our spiritual warfare when he lulls us into a drowsy contentedness and lotus satisfaction. He hypnotizes us with materialism, success and the good life. We are full and busy pleasing ourselves, so we neglect prayer. Who will win the war? It depends on IF Christians pray.