The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.
--John 3:8
If given the choice, I would have preferred to get in the entire 18 holes of golf. As it turns out, we barely got through 9 holes. We were on a course where it is difficult to ascertain which direction on the compass one is headed. The storm clouds appeared to be gathering in the north. We were under partly cloudy skies in the south. Growing up in Nebraska, I learned that the nasty storms went from the southwest to the northeast. Thus, I thought we could miss the meteorological fireworks and get in the entire round.
As you likely guessed, we barely got off the course in time. The temperature dropped incredibly in just seconds. The wind, coming from an unknown direction to me, bent young trees over. Leaves flew. The rain came down sideways. Lightning strikes dotted the Texas horizon. The power went out in the clubhouse. We picked up a raincheck and rode the storm out.
As I said, I would have preferred to make the choice, but the weather stymied that option. It was a case of "The best laid plans of mice and men..." and all that.
A "best laid plan", when it comes to God, would be freedom of choice; we could choose the criteria in which a belief in God might work out to be a beneficial thing. But again, as you likely guessed, this is nonsense.
Jesus says that the wind blows where it chooses. ("Wind," by the way means the same thing as "Spirit" in the New Testament.) The One who has the ultimate choice is the Spirit of the living God. We don't make the choice, but we do find ourselves to be chosen. We confess this to be the work of the Spirit -- the "wind" of God. Jesus goes as far as to say that we can hear it. And, indeed, we do -- in the good word of the Gospel which instills and nourishes faith when and where it pleases God. No need for a raincheck!
PD
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