Drives, Dirt Devils, and the Abiding Spirit

God usually speaks something to me on long drives. There is something about the open road that clears the mind and allows me to turn my focus more clearly to His voice. Likely, it is more because I live the rest of life on such a schedule that my mind rarely has time to just clear of all the daily noise.

We were driving to pick up our grandchildren for Spring Break week. As I looked out across the great expanse of land, I saw little whirlwinds of sand or dirt. I have grown used to the big sand/dust storms in New Mexico that make visibility low and car washes a necessity. This was different, they were small whirlwinds popping up between the greenery, and disappearing just as quickly. I saw this several times in a short time span.

After I returned home from dropping the kids back off, I took time to look up what these little things were. According to the American Meteorological Society (AMS), this is called a dust devil. It is defined as, “a well-developed dust whirl; a small but vigorous whirlwind, usually of short duration, rendered visible by dust, sand, and debris picked up from the ground.

During the initial drive though, I thought about how the Holy Spirit is often portrayed in the wind:

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts‬ ‭2:1-4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

How often I seek His presence, the mighty rushing wind; instead of allowing His Spirit to remain, I am content with a quick visitation. I have allowed myself to be satisfied with a quick imitation instead of His abiding presence. He desires for His Spirit to rest on us and live in us.

How appropriate that this little whirlwind is called a dirt devil. The enemy tries to counterfeit everything that is Holy. God longs to satisfy me and fill me, but there are times that I am satisfied with the quick refreshment of His wind. The wind of the Spirit picks up what is on me, the debris of the world that I have allowed to rest upon me. He longs to remove it completely, but I allow it to be lifted and then quickly move on to something else. The debris is dropped back on me, usually with more added to it.

“For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.” Psalm‬ ‭107:9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

God keeps bringing me back to the longing, the hungry. God wants to satisfy and fill His children. Yet, so often I am so full of worldly things that I don’t know what it is to long for Him. I occupy my every waking moment with the schedule that leaves me longing for rest. God offers it. I settle for being lazy, and sleep that still leaves me exhausted.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

I look for connection, when I have a Father who longs to connect with me without demands. Instead, I occupy my schedule with things that give a false sense of connection but are of no eternal value that often leave me needing to decompress.

They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. Colossians 2:19

I look for relationships to satisfy me, when I have Savior who was willing to die for me so that I could be in relationship with Him.

 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Romans 5:10-11

I look for success in the things of this world to satisfy, and God promises a deeper level of satisfaction through meditation on His Word and obedience to Him.

Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:7-8

I hunger for savory foods to fill a Bread of Life hunger.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. John 6:35

We have a choice of what we allow to fill our lives, what we give our time to. We can choose to rest in His presence, be filled with His Spirit, abide in His love and be filled by the Bread of Life. He will never force us to stay there, even after we accept Him into our lives. He will direct us, but He will never force us to listen or obey. May we not be satisfied by passing dust devils, but rest in His abiding Spirit.

Prayer – Lord help me to strip away the things that keep me from longing for you. Not because I need you to take them from me, but because I want to be satisfied by you. Allow my hunger to grow for you and to help me to stop feeding that void with food that never fails Lord let your spirits wind blow and let it remain on me. Help me ot be satisfied with a cheap imitation of your Spirit, or with a visitation, but allow your Spirit to rest on me as I abide in You and Seek you with my whole heart.