Annie
Scriptures: John 3:8 2 Timothy 1:7 Luke 5:17 Acts 11:15-17
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.
I woke this morning thinking that I really wanted to somehow make a coherent narrative of all the word pictures and glimpses of something way beyond me, that God has been forming in my brain. Then I heard the weirdest noise outside, and it took my breath away. I went out and saw it, the source of this rasping, discordant crying; there on our barn roof was a Paradise duck (a native goose like duck), its white head stretched forward as it loudly called out for all to hear. And I knew, that God will untangle the thoughts swirling around my brain, He will give me the right words in the right order, and He will fill in all the gaps.
So, why does the strident call of this beautiful bird bring me this assurance? For several weeks, as I was seeking God to help me understand how to be courageous in this broken world we live in, I kept remembering the image of the Wild Goose in Celtic tradition. In their tradition, the Celts envisage Holy Spirit, not as the gentle, softly cooing Dove who descended upon Jesus at His baptism, but the powerful Wild Goose. This image represents a very different side of who Holy Spirit is.
Wild geese aren’t controllable, there is no way this magnificent, free wild bird can be restrained or bent to our will. They are loud and raucous, the antithesis of the serene, calming cooing of a dove, their call is strong and challenging. Their strident voice is quite unnerving and just a bit scary, and, although we may not often acknowledge this, God’s Holy Spirit can be commanding and a little unsettling, even slightly scary. Yet, often this is the side of Holy Spirit we need to remember when we are feeling as if we are simply too weak to take on the challenges of this world.
The most courageous man who ever walked this earth was our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. In order to fulfil the work He had come to earth to do, He had to take on the sins and sicknesses of the whole world, of every person who had ever taken breath and whoever would take breath. He knew this was what He would be facing and that He would face this alone, He really needed the empowering strength of Holy Spirit, both the tender calmness and the indomitable might and resilience. Only as He allowed God to minister to Him was He able to drink the cup set before Him.
Throughout His ministry, Jesus had relied upon the Spirit of God to guide, comfort and strengthen Him, and He told us that, when He left this earth, He would leave us Holy Spirit as our Comforter, our Guide, our Teacher. We would come to know Holy Spirit as the tender Dove, but also as the Challenging Wild Goose who prompts us to fly with Him, knowing His courage will sustain and empower us.
As we read in the book of Acts, Holy Spirit empowered Paul and the other disciples to carry out the ministry of Jesus and how those to whom they ministered were also touched by Holy Spirit. They faced persecution, beatings and danger from so many quarters as they carried the gospel message in those early years. They needed the courage and power that only Holy Spirit could give them, and, as they grew in their relationship with God, they learned to see both sides of the Third Person of the Trinity.
As we walk in our journey through life, we will all face battles that will scare us and present us with a choice. Do we allow ourselves to be embroiled in the battle alone, or do we reach out, answering the strident call of our Wild Goose Holy Spirit as He empowers us with His might and power.
Prayer: Abba Father, fill us again with Your Holy Spirit, open the eyes of our hearts to see You as the strong and powerful One, who is also the tender, gentle Comforter. In the Name of Jesus and by the power of Holy Spirit we pray, Amen.
Oh lead me where the Wild Goose flies On winds and currents rising, With steadfast gaze upon the prize, With soul and heart rejoicing. Following the arrow path that splits the clouds asunder, Encouraged by the loving Voice, so full of power and wonder.
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