“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:8 NIV.

For at least the past week or so if one has listened to any breaking news stories or news in general — it did not matter what the top trending story has been from the local to international scene — the topic of the wind took precedence.

Yes, the news of impending winds of Harvey, Irma or Jose has stirred our emotions and concerns of our safety or the safety of others as those hurricane winds reached catastrophic speeds and conditions in some areas. The wind, described as a flow of air, at times with great force, has captured our attention on numerous television broadcasts and every regular news reports.

This mysterious force is wreaking havoc and threatening significant portions of the East Coast to include possibly coming close to our area. The wind’s path of destruction has already been made known through record force and has shown itself in an unfavorable and most undesirable light of destruction. This destructible force of wind has initiated much fear, concern and prayer amongst communities and people in or potentially in its path.

However, it is in John’s gospel in the renowned third chapter that the wind of God is mentioned. In this personal conversation that Jesus is having with Nicodemus, he states that the power of this mysterious force blows where it pleases and one cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. But Jesus also states, “So it is also with everyone that is born of the spirit.”

He encourages us that are born again and believers, that we are endowed with this mystical power of a spiritual nature that is unlike the undesirable force of the physical wind but rather a desirable force of the power of God at work in our lives. How enlightening to know during these trying times of winds of hurricane force wreaking havoc and causing fear and anxiety to know that as God’s children, we have a power that exists within us that rivals and surpasses the aim and purpose of the destructible forces of physical winds. This wind, “the spirit” evoked through regeneration of our carnal nature, has a force that breaks down barriers in a much different way than the physical wind.

It does not cause havoc but rather calm and contentment. It does not destroy the good but rather it destroys that which is harmful and seeks to bring together that which is good through godly love. Nicodemus was having a big problem understanding this. I pray that we all understand it through a personal relationship with Jesus.

Dr. James Taylor III is the pastor of the Jericho Baptist Church in Farmville. His email address is jht3@verizon.net.