We went to a park the other day. It was a beautiful day, but really windy.
As we were sitting in the car, a truck pulled up next to us. We started watching as the man pulled out piece after piece of something. Then he started putting the pieces together. It took a lot of time and energy just to get the pieces assembled.
Then came the wet suit and some kind of harness. As he put the final pieces together we figured out that he was going windsurfing.
He picked up the whole—managing to balance the board and sail in all that wind—and got it to the water. The balancing and getting on weren’t the most graceful, but he managed it.
Then it was beautiful.
I know it took a lot of energy and strength, but he made it look effortless. He went with the wind. Then he came back against it. And then he went across the wind and back. He was able to use the wind to travel all around the river.
It made me think of what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit:
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)
What if we learned to work with the Holy Spirit the way the windsurfer worked with his wind. Looking effortless doesn’t mean it is. Among other things, it took constant effort and awareness. It took learning how to work with it—not against it. And it took respect for the power.
I wonder … what could that life be like?