Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you...
2 Timothy 1:6
I have been spending time in 2 Timothy, Paul’s last and final letter. His words carry so much weight. Timothy, young and timid, needed to be reminded of who He was in Christ. Oh, how I can relate to Timothy! Paul makes this statement to Timothy and I can hear God whispering the same, very thing to me: I remind you, Kelly, to stir up the gift of God which is in you…
Other translations read “fan into flame” or “rekindle,” and this got me thinking: When a fire is dying, a strong wind has the ability to put it out completely. But blowing gently on the embers will do the opposite. This type of wind can revive a fading and flickering flame. Those embers, once rekindled, can produce a great, big fire. When there is a steady fire, that same strong wind has the ability to spread those flames... like wildfire.
Hurricane Ike was my first hurricane. I remember being terrified just by the sound of the wind. I laid in bed awake that night
wondering if the force of those screeching winds would pluck the roof right off
our house. I will never forget that storm- not because our roof was damaged- it
wasn’t. It will forever stand out in my journey with Jesus because very soon a
storm would strike in my own life that would last more than a day and threaten
to steal more than the roof above my head.
During that storm, my world was dark. I wondered if the waiting would ever end. Painful loss ripped my heart in two. It felt as if the wind that was blowing could most certainly swoop down and steal my faith. But my faith was not extinguished; it was strengthened through that storm. The unpredictable raging winds exposed many holes in my faith that desperately needed to be repaired and lies I had accepted that needed to be replaced with truth. Though those winds were necessary for the work God was doing in my heart, it was a much gentler wind that met me in my drenched state. This wind did not howl; it did not shriek or threathen. It soothed my soul and refreshed my heart. It sounded a lot like this:
I haven’t forgotten you.
You are not alone.
I will never leave you.
I have a plan.
You are mine.
In 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul tells Timothy that “all Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for teaching in righteousness, so that the servant
of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” God’s word is
His very breath. It is His love letter to us, and it has a
beautiful sound. It meets us right
where we are with all of our questions, all of our fears, and right in the
middle of our messes.
My fire was still flickering, but it was in a state of crisis. I needed Jesus to breathe life into me and resurrect my faith. And He did just that, through His word. I found hope in the pages and discovered a direct line of communication with my loving Father. I wondered how I had lived so many years thinking my bible was just a history book, a tidy collection of stories about some people that lived a really, really long time ago in a place really, really far from here. But you know what? I happen to have a whole lot in common with those people. Listen to the words Jesus speaks as He reunites with His closest followers after rising from the grave.
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples
were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came
and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he
showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the
Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has
sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them
and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
John 20:19-22
The disciples were afraid. They had questions. Certain men in that very room had made monumental messes. They did not understand that Jesus had to rise from the dead, so their faith had been put to the ultimate test. They desperately needed Jesus to breath life into them; to blow on the embers of their hearts and rekindle their faith. They were scared and uncertain and most definitely did not have power so Jesus gave them this gift- the Holy Spirit- that would spark a fire so great that it would eventually spread like wildfire.
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one
place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and
filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be
tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of
them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues
as the Spirit enabled them.
Acts 2:1-4
God literally used a hurricane force wind to blow through this house and ignite a fire that would spread the gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit using a bunch of fearful followers. And thousands believed- three thousand, to be exact! The stormy winds in our own lives have the potential to spread the love of Jesus like wildfire, too. Paul's letter to Timothy shows us how.
Paul knew that Timothy’s fire was weak, but he knew that the power of the Holy Spirit could revive Timothy’s faith and make it even stronger in the face of persecution and suffering. Paul tells Timothy (and he tells us) in 2 Timothy 4:2, “Share the word; be prepared in season and out of season;” when it’s convenient and when it’s not; during the storm and during good weather. Oh, how simple it is to speak of God's love when I feel it shining all around me! It's another thing entirely to believe that He is good when life is not. Fierce winds that rush in unexpectedly often leave questions hanging with no answers. But God's love stretches farther than any storm or hurricane, and His gentle breath is more powerful than any wind that blows our way.
In the Bible, God used the wind to provide: He used it to hold back the water of the Red Sea so the people could cross on dry land; He used it to bring quail into the wilderness for the people to eat. Sometimes, we get to look back and see how God used the strong winds in our lives; and sometimes we don't. Even if we don't ever know the why, we can find peace in knowing the Who. God created the wind, He commands the wind, and He can use the wind in any way He chooses. As Elijah learned, sometimes we have to look past the wind and past the storm, and strain our ears to hear that gentle whisper. God's word- His very breath- is enough to sustain us, revive us, and renew us. Let Jesus breathe fresh wind into your life today.
He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth- the Lord God Almighty is his name. Amos 4:13
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