It was almost hour number eleven in the car.
The morning had started early at 6am. Since then, we had traveled through half of Arizona, all of New Mexico, and now crossed the border into Texas and had about an hour and a half left on that day’s journey.
This was the first time I’d ever been to Texas, so I was looking all around in this new territory. Not long after we were in the Lone Star State, off in the distance, we noticed rows and rows of something. As we got closer, out in the farm fields we saw wind mill, after wind mill, after wind mill. They weren’t the “old fashioned” kind like you’d see near a barn on a North Caroline country road, these were towering and sturdy rods reaching up out of the farmland with three blades that steadily, or gracefully, turned around and around.
The sun was setting behind them – over to the left I saw their silhouettes, and to the right, those bright white structures. It was something I’d never seen. The view was fascinating because it looked like these rows of wind turbines would never end. I kept looking in the distance thinking I’d soon say, “Oh, there’s the end.” But an hour later, I never got to say that because the sky became dark and they still kept going.
I had to look up a little info on this area and learned that we were driving through the Roscoe Wind Complex , “the world’s largest wind farm with all 627 towering wind turbines churning out electricity across 100,000 acres of West Texas farmland. In its full capacity, it generates enough to power 230,000 homes.” And that’s just one of the many farms in Texas.
My husband kept us going at a fast pace in our minivan at 70mph, yet somehow the slow turning and steady rhythm of those big fins made my soul want to slow down to a holy rhythm.
Gazing out the window, I asked myself, “Isn’t life like these windmills?” There are hundreds of them on this land doing their job. Some days they turn around at an accelerated pace when the wind blows strong, and some are slower where the wind doesn’t blow and they slow down to almost a stop. But they still produce energy. They hardly ever stop.
I suppose I asked myself this question because that’s how I feel sometimes. I’m in my land, my place, doing my thing – and hoping it’s the “thing” that God wants me to be doing. Sometimes do you feel mounted, or stuck, in place with day-to-day, monotonous routines? Twenty-four hours going around, and around, and around: from when the alarm goes off in the morning until it’s turned back on before the head hits the pillow at night, with work, family and other daily responsibilities that must be done each and every day.
I think we’re given ordinary days in order to be more aware of God’s Spirit. Sometimes it’s in those monotonous days where we can feel God’s Spirit brush over us like the wind.
Then, there’s some days when the wind doesn’t seem to blow much and your wheel slows down and it’s hard to go around one more time. You’re worn out. Tired of trying any longer. Ready to stop or give up. Or maybe it’s a time God wants you to rest. You feel guilty though if you slow down because you’re just not supposed to do that in today’s world. Life can become a competition of who can do the most things.
But God wants His Spirit to blow right over us to make us slow down a little bit. Maybe to help us build up some more energy.
The wind turbines are designed to produce energy or electricity. I learned that basically, “a wind turbine works the opposite of a fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind, like a fan, wind turbines use wind to make electricity. The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft, which connects to a generator and makes electricity.” These high-tech windmills, are the transformers of energy, which gives us the ability to do many things. Most of what we take for granted. The wind the turbine produces, as those blades turn around and around, gives us the accessibility to live life well, giving us the freedom to do so many things.
The same goes for our life and freedom in Christ.
The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. Romans 8:2 (MSG)
I want to feel that wind. Do you? The wind that clears the fog and even darkness in your life and then be turned into spiritual energy that you can’t survive without. I want to depend on Christ more than I depend on the electrical power to make the microwave quickly warm up leftovers for dinner or turn the lamp on when it’s dark.
God is our power plant Who generates the energy and electricity in our souls allowing us to do many things. God gives us power though the Holy Spirit.
I’m reminded of the song – “Mind’s Eye” by DC Talk. In the song they’re quoting Billy Graham when he once said,
Can you catch the wind? [Can you see God, have you ever seen Him?] I’ve never seen the wind I seen the effects of the wind But I’ve never seen the wind] Can you see the breeze? [There’s a mystery to it]
The song is about how faith is the evidence of things unseen. Just like you can’t see the wind, you know it’s there because you can see and feel the effects of it. That’s just like faith and God’s Spirit. You may not be able to see Him, just like you cannot see the wind, but you know He is there and alive because you see the effects of the Spirit in people’s hearts and lives.
The Holy Spirit displays God’s power through each of us as a means of helping the entire church. 1 Corinthians 12:7 (TLB)
In that letter, Paul says God’s Spirit gives us power to help the entire church. The entire Church. We’re instructed to reach out to our community as a Body of believers, using the unique and perfect gifts He’s given each of us.
We all need each other. We need to balance each other. So as a Body of Christ, we can come alongside each other. It’s called unity.
On a wind farm, when there’s not much breeze in parts of those huge plots of land, the spectrum is large enough where those turbines can cover for each other. One day, in one section, the wind is felt stronger than another area where it’s not. Power comes from a complex grid and the utility workers are very capable of getting power to where it needs to be.
God is very capable of getting His power where it needs to be. God’s power is in each of us when we invite His Spirit to invade and take over our hearts. When we do that, it’s beautiful to see how we can stake ground and become a large plot of rich soil where we, as One Body of believers, can produce an abundant amount of holy energy to bring Light to this dark world.
Do you want to know what my prayer is? That the wind will blow through Alamance county and unity is produced from the power of the Holy Spirit. That women will unite, stand tall and sturdy in Christ, like thousands of those wind turbines stand. Where the wind, God’s Spirit, blows, allowing us to work together to give energy to the lives of others around us whether that be food, prayer, or support. Where our gifts and passions are spread far and wide, even to places where they don’t know exactly who it’s blowing to, but trusting that it will.
Jesus says,
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 NLT
Ask God to give you that power so He can be the Light of Christ through you. Through us. In His FULL capacity, let’s reflect God’s power and light into homes and lives that are in the dark, by our words and actions. Let us be a power plant, a large community, who works together so He can generate His power through us! May He give us the power of love, grace, and compassion so we can give it away to others.
**** Here’s an opportunity for you to join with other women in the Alamance county area and beg for the power of the Holy Spirit to work though us. It’s IF:Pray that takes place Monday, September 14, 2015. It’ll be a powerful evening of worship and prayer and you’re invited to come! Register here so we know how many to expect. If you don’t live in this area, look here for other locations and more information. ****