We need new wind. What do I mean?
We’ve all heard or read this verse before:
“Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.”
Ephesians 4:14 NLT
But guess what? This is not what I mean by New Wind. Just thought I’d get that out there first.
No, what I mean is explained best by some analogies.
Have you ever played any kind of full-contact or semi-contact sport? When a player gets knocked down or receives a bad hit, oftentimes they experience extreme fatigue, an inability to breathe properly, and a sincere need to rest and sit out the rest of the play, round, game, etc.
Most people refer to this as getting the wind knocked out of them. Like getting punched in the gut during a boxing match.
Also, when your little kid is running rampant from some kind of sugar rush or just having energy because they somehow have twice the amount of energy you have but are half the size… they’re likely going to crash. And sometimes this crash is rough. Screaming is a common symptom. And sometimes the only cure is a TV show.
But sometimes this kid of yours gets a sudden burst of energy, again! They’re running off the walls and screaming (joyously now). What is this often referred to as? Catching their second wind.
Let’s turn these two analogies toward our faith, shall we? After all, that’s what we’re reading this for!
Life is going to hit you hard sometimes. God’s going to ask you to do something crazy. And maybe, when life hits us hard, or God puts us through something that’s uncomfortable, it can feel like He’s not there with us.
What we need to do when this happens is to ask God for something: new wind.
I used to believe that faith was a muscle. I believed if I constantly read the bible and constantly prayed (Psalm 119:11, 1 Thess. 5:16) that I would be exercising my faith muscle which would in turn strengthen me so that when a storm came, I was strong enough to endure it.
Don’t get past me wrong, there is truth in this. It’s important to exercise your faith to strengthen it and to spend more time with God so your relationship with Christ can deepen and be richer. From this, you can gain confidence, surety, and peace.
But guess what? If you get punched in the gut, you’re going to be winded.
And brother, sister, did I ever get punched in the gut. When Micah was diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease and we spent a week in the hospital not knowing what was wrong or if he was going to be okay; when we got home and he was like a different kid and we had to give him two needles a day to prevent his heart from trying to kill him, and when God seemed to ignore my calls for help; allowing him to not get better for three months while we sat on the edge of our seats: it was a punch to the gut of my faith.
The gut of our faith is probably not going to be a popular expression among the church going forward, but bear with me here.
I thought I was strong! I thought that because I was so close to God, and my faith was “unshakable,” I could handle anything He sent me! But guess what… when life hits you hard: it knocks the wind out of you.
Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV says:
“8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”
So if I thought the strength of my faith could get me through something, and that the strength of my faith came from me exercising it… what did I think? I thought it was from me. I thought it was from my works alone.
What I didn’t realize was this: only God can give us our second wind. And we need it every day!
My perspective changed. Just like Elisha’s servant in the awesome story from 2 Kings, chapter 6. An army was coming against Elisha and his servant; two versus an entire army!
“Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked in verse 15.
“Don’t be afraid!” Elisha responded in verse 16. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
What kind of math is that? Elisha went on to pray for the situation. Did he pray that God would send an army to fight for them? No. Did he pray that God would teleport them out of there? No! He prayed the servant’s eyes would be opened to see what was already there: God’s army.
And when Joshua (Joshua 6) and the people of Israel are on their sixth lap around Jericho after six days of doing this and thinking to themselves: “What are we doing? God’s told us to do this crazy thing! This will never work!”
It’s so easy to feel winded when we’re surrounded by bad situations or when we’ve exhausted ourselves following what we feel God has told us to do. And that’s because we’re human and weak and broken vessels.
But that’s where God meets us! That’s when He steps in, gives us new wind and allows us to see what’s really there: His protection. He allows us to conquer that high walled city by His strength.
Remember Gideon? He had 32,000 soldiers with him ready to fight against the enemy that was attacking (Judges 7). But God says there’s too many! So everyone who is afraid of fighting is told to head home. Gideon’s left with 10,000 now. But even then, God says there’s too many! So they weed out even more soldiers until finally… Gideon and only 300 others remain. To fight an army! And guess what? They won.
After Jesus ascended, the disciples where thrown in prison so many times. They were flogged and persecuted and hated and hunted. But God kept giving them a new wind to carry on. Most of them ended up killed, but it was with the strength of God in their lungs.
God allows us to go through all these struggles and confusing scenarios. Personally, I don’t believe He causes it. But for some reason He allows it. What I do know is He stretches us, puts us in uncomfortable places, allows our kids to get sick. And I can’t tell you why God allowed your specific trial or misery. I know one of the reasons why He allowed mine: I’ve learned so much about Him and my walk with Him through this and I know I’ll have so much to teach Micah through the years about how God protected Him. A global pandemic called the Coronavirus broke out one month after we left the hospital… My work just so happened to insure 80% of the $400 / month medication that Micah had to take (Lovenox brand enoxaparin blood thinner with 8mm needles). Micah’s heart could have been damaged in one of two ways: healable and non-healable. Guess which way God allowed Micah’s heart to be damaged? The healable way. I can see God’s finger print throughout this entire horrible, horrible ordeal. And that makes me give Him all the glory.
Well… that’s just plain selfish, isn’t it? God allows us to go through misery just so He can have the fame and glory when we get out of the trial?
Firstly: He’s the Creator; so technically He deserves all the glory for every victory we have.
Secondly: Why do you think God wants the glory? It’s because He wants everyone to know He did it. Everyone knew God defeated the Arameans for Elisha. Everyone knew God tore down the walls of Jericho for Joshua. Everyone knew it was God who defeated the Midianites for Gideon.
And why? If everyone knows God did it… everyone acknowledges God.
When I give God the glory for healing Micah’s heart: I’m telling my co-workers not only that God exists, but that He’s good.
Okay. So it’s not by our own strength that we bounce back from a punch to the gut of our faith.
Our lives are a ring (boxing term). We’re in it, gloves on, and there’s a scary boxer on the other side. He could be debt, he could be a child wandered away from the faith, he could be an unfaithful spouse, he could be a sick kid, he could be a lost job, he could be cancer, he could be temptation, he could be failure, he could be depression, anxiety, hatred, abuse, alcohol, injury, and all the time; he is fear.
And sometimes… he’s going to hit us in the gut. We’re going to be down and thinking: “God… where are you?”
But God’s right there and He’s waiting for the RIGHT time to give you your second wind. To fill your lungs with a new wind that’s going to give you enough strength to knock down whatever it is on the other end of that ring that’s taunting you. And when you knock down that dreadful giant know this: it was the wind of God in you that did it. It was Christ living in you through His Spirit that gave you the strength.
And get this!
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV
And,
“Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.”
2 Timothy 4:18 NLT
Whatever you’re fighting has been fought before. God is faithful; He’s not going to allow you to get hit in the gut to the point where you can’t recover. He’s going to give you a new wind so you can get back up, bear the next hit, and finish the fight. And every battle that comes your way, He’ll rescue you from.
And it is to God that we should give all the glory for that victory.
And that victory… could be a long way ahead. You might have to take a hit two, three times before your new wind comes. But every day. And I mean every day. If all you have the strength to do is fall on your knees and pray, asking God for that new wind. That’s enough.
He’ll take that. He’ll give you that new wind. We’ve just got to know that it’s on His terms. He’s a good God to trust.