Wind and Fire

Being a resident in the Texas Panhandle has given me a new appreciation for wind and fire. We recently had a blustery day where wind speeds howled as high as 70 mph. By the noise outside my office, it has been a windy day here once again. I heard the whistling winds in a different part of our church facilities earlier so loudly I actually thought someone was in the building whistling. 

It is very dry around here. We have had very little moisture of any kind for months now. High winds mixed with dry conditions and low humidity make for wildfires. There have been numerous this spring. One burned over 200,000 acres. The wild fires of 2024 burned over a million acres. Thousands of cattle were burned alive devastating ranchers. 

Wind and fire can be destructive. Winds from tornadoes and hurricanes cause catastrophic damage. Fires are equally destructive in the form of lightening strikes, arson, forest fires and wildfires. When the power of wind and fire are harnessed, that same power can be used for beneficial purposes like windmills, sails on a ship, and combustible engines. 

I pray for the wind and fire of God to move in the churches of this town and region once again. The wind of the Spirit blowing through congregations and communities powerfully. Empowering ministry endeavors. Convicting and converting the unsaved. The fire of God falling on cold apathetic hearts, ushering in days of  refreshing and revival, and calling people to repentance and renewal. We need the wind and the fire of God. 

Without them we have dead churches. People content themselves with stale religion without life. People sleepily sit in the pews unphased by music or sermon. The dry rot of religion keeps many people in a rut where they high center in lukewarmness. The wind and fire of God shakes up the status quo. It brings passion into worship gatherings. It produces sold out followers of Jesus who impact the world around them. Acts 17:6. 

Like I heard a preacher say, "God can do more in days than we can do in decades." The wind and fire of God unleash power like in the days of Acts. I've seen what God can do when the wind and fire fall. People get serious about God. The lost are transformed. The congregation gets clean before the Lord. The message of God travels faster and broader than in normal times. Worship is intensified. The altar gets crowded. People hunger for more of God. Those are all things I long to see again. May the Lord send His wind and fire across the land before it is too late.