1 Corinthians 2:6-10 (CEB)

What we say is wisdom to people who are mature. It isn’t a wisdom that comes from the present day or from today’s leaders who are being reduced to nothing. We talk about God’s wisdom, which has been hidden as a secret. God determined this wisdom in advance, before time began, for our glory. It is a wisdom that none of the present-day rulers have understood, because if they did understand it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory! But this is precisely what is written: God has prepared things for those who love him that no eye has seen, or ear has heard, or that haven’t crossed the mind of any human being10 God has revealed these things to us through the Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, including the depths of God.


Reflection

This morning I awoke to the sound of the wind, followed by a constant breeze throughout the day. It reminded me of the Bob Dylan song, “Blowin’ in the Wind.” The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind. The answer is blowin’ in the wind.  Yet each time I hear the wind, I also think of the Holy Spirit coming with support and wisdom for someone, like a blanketing presence to guide our thinking and reasoning.  Christ announced that this comforting presence would be our “Advocate” in his absence.  I know that this ageless entity isn’t just within the actual wind, but is instead all around us. Perhaps when we seek God in all ways, it is the Advocate that helps us understand.  It is the Advocate that helps us have special knowledge and the peace that surpasses all understanding. It is the Advocate that offers a deep sense of knowing to help us hear that still small voice from within.

Here in Corinthians, Paul’s words also remind us that wisdom is so much more than just knowledge that we can gain by ordinary means. Paul tells us that wisdom for believers is really insight that comes from God for those who love God. Such wisdom connects us also to one another. Often wisdom of the Spirit is insight that happens between people at the same time. Christians who think the same thoughts or wordlessly share the same ideas without any other communication are hearing the language of the Spirit. Whether we are experiencing new things, hearing old stories or listening to ancient teachings, there is an insight that is beyond human understanding.  It is a deep sense of knowing that is timelessly heard by both young and old.  So come, Holy Spirit, come. Wrap us together in your holy wind.

By Barbara Carlson


For Pondering & Prayer

We can’t see the wind. We can only hear it, feel it or see its results. It is the same with the Holy Spirit! Jesus Christ told us to wait on the Holy Spirit and live in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit guides us to wisdom that then gives us greater peace because we sense truth in what we hear. Can you name a time when you knew something without being told about it? How has the Holy Spirit guided your steps toward peace that surpasses all understanding?

Check out the wisdom of Bob Dylan’s prophetic words to Blowin’ In the Wind here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMFj8uDubsE .  Meanwhile, here are just a few of his lyrics that timelessly relate to voices of today.  Now that is wisdom!  Prayer: Come Holy Spirit, come and help us to give voice to the needs of today. Amen.

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

"Blowin' in the Wind," Bob Dylan, 1962