A "Winds of Change" Moment
We are in a "winds of change" moment. Can you feel it? It's not a moment where some things are changing or most things are changing, but all things are changing. This is a moment where the Holy Spirit is moving upon the earth, brooding, shifting, and rearranging us, the church, and even nations in preparation for the harvest.
"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, 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 ESV)
You might ask, "But doesn't God stay the same?" Yes and no. He doesn't change but he moves. The Holy Spirit is always moving, forever leading us through seasons of change and growth. And in seasons when the "ark" moves, only the seekers and the lovers will move with it, and that reality has never been greater than now. Right now many can feel him summoning us to move with him and leave anything that isn't HIM behind.
This is a moment where the winds of the Holy Spirit are gathering up the battle-weary and broken from the ashes of defeat, just like in Ezekiel 37, where the breath of God brought life to dry bones and caused them to stand on their feet.
"Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live."'" (Ezekiel 37:9 NIV)
It is a moment where the winds of the Holy Spirit are blowing, like in Acts 2, when tongues of fire came upon those who gathered.
"Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting." (Acts 2:2 NIV)
Just as the wind comes and rearranges, just as the Holy Spirit moves and shakes things apart, he is also the Comforter; he is also the Healer. In the same sentence, he shakes the earth and stills it. In the same sentence, he blows upon the seas, creating tumult, then brings the calm.
A Season of Divine Order Through the Disorder
He brings everything into divine order. We have been in a season of displacement to be placed. We have been in the "tearing apart" so that we can be put back together the right way. That is the moment we are in right now.
When there is DISORDER, or disease, the Holy Spirit comes as the remedy to bring order, but at first it only looks like chaos; it exposes the root. The chaos reveals the head of the snake and the demonic forces hiding in plain sight. It reveals the festering wounds and soul-sicknesses... (Photo via Unsplash)
That's why the Holy Spirit is blowing like a strong cyclonic gale upon the westernized church right now... The rot has been lurking and keeping the bride sick. You and I have been drinking from the stagnant well getting sick with her.
The winds of change are also blowing on nations. Can you see it?
"The Winds of Change Are Here!"
I'll never forget the moment I heard the phrase "the winds of change." It was one night in late 2008, when I was walking home from our grocery store, worshiping. In my spirit I heard, "The winds of change are here!" Then out of nowhere a strong wind came and almost blew me over!
When I got home I told my wife Christy, "The winds of change are here!"
She said, "What's that?"
I said, "I have no idea, but God is about to move some things around!"
Three months later, we moved to the United States to serve a ministry on the road. The winds of change shifted everything in a moment. What If God is doing that for you right now too?
The Emmaus Moment
As I've been thinking about this statement ("The winds of change are here"), I felt a word rise up in my spirit: "Look for my path in the 'winds of change' season."
I asked, "Lord, how do we find the path? How do we walk through a season like this?"
He led me to the story of the road to Emmaus. After Jesus died, everything had seemingly fallen apart for his followers. We read about two of them traveling along a seven-mile road to Emmaus, likely discussing the days when they had walked with Jesus... reminiscing, wondering, grieving, when suddenly Jesus appeared beside them, though they did not recognize him.
"...[T]hey were kept from recognizing him ... Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, 'Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?'" (Luke 24:16, 31–32 NIV)
"My People Need to Know That I Am with Them Right Now"
I asked, "Lord, what are you trying to say to me through this story?"
He said, "My people need to know that I am with them right now. I am walking with them in this 'winds of change' moment. The way to walk through a season of transition is to seek me, to look for me, to talk about me, to burn for me."
Nothing is truly lost as long as our focus is on him. You can focus on the world. You can focus on the stock market, your finances, and the things that seem to be falling apart around you, or you can focus on Jesus.
When your eyes are on Jesus, you are on the right path. The "winds of change" season doesn't need to take you out when it's the very thing that's trying to put you back together. God is using this moment to remove your dependence on what has been man-made and like sinking sand beneath your feet.
The word over you this season is seek him, look for him, and talk about him. Remind yourself of the encounters you've had with him. He is right there in your midst. Worship him, my friends. This is not a moment of being lost, just because everything is being rearranged. Just because everything is changing does not mean you are being depleted. This is where God is multiplying. This is where he is adding to us. This is where we are shifting out of the ways of man and back into the realm of the Spirit.
We are stepping out of the dry places and back into the rivers of living water flowing from our bellies after seasons of deep, internal drought.
"Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." (John 7:38 NIV)
Don't you see? This "winds of change" season is not breaking us, it is making us new; although it can often feel like the former, right?
From the Dry River Bed to the Warm Springs of Life
You are not stumbling in the dark, friends. This is a strategic moment where God is doing this deep work in us.
The name "Emmaus" is derived from a Hebrew word (chammah) meaning "warm spring" (Strong's G1695). In biblical times, warm springs were often associated with healing, purification, and renewal, and that is what many are going through right now! (Photo via Unsplash)
Just as the two disciples on the road were in a state of disillusionment and grief, needing a fresh revelation, many are feeling the same right now!
Emmaus prophetically represents the transition from discouragement and hope deferred to encounter, like many are going through right now! Need I go on?
This "winds of change" moment is not one of abandonment by God but a shift. This shift rearranges our relationship with God and reconnects us to him in a deeper way, as we are led from the dry river bed to the warm springs of life and cleansing after a painful season of warfare and conquest for the kingdom.
Let the Wind Do Its Work
In Matthew 3:12 it speaks about how part of the process of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the winnowing, which involves tossing wheat into the air so the wind can separate it from the chaff.
"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (Matthew 3:11–12 NIV)
I believe that the winnowing work of the Holy Spirit is coming right now to separate the lies of the enemy and the truth of the Father in places where they have felt muddied in this season.
Right now, as you read this, rebuke every lie that has told you that you are lost and that things are falling apart. God is getting everything in your life back on track and in order.
The discomfort you feel is because he is exposing the areas of your life that have been built on sinking sand, on the ways of man, on institutionalized thinking, and religious ideologies. He is tearing down cultural and demonic altars that have led us off course.
So here is my word for you: Let your life be an altar again for him. Let your life be a sacrifice again. Lay down the things that have been crowding out his name, his voice, and his Spirit. We have become so in love with our comfort that we have forgotten the joy of giving him everything.
"He must become greater; I must become less." (John 3:30 NIV)
Here is my word for the church: You are crying out for revival. You are longing for encounters. You are praying for habitation, but you cannot have a fire extinguisher in your hand and expect the flames of the Spirit to burn. It does not work. Church, in this "winds of change" moment, surrender and let him lead you into a new path and a new way. The indicator will be this: "Did not our hearts burn within us?"
I pray, even now as you read this, that your heart would begin to burn again for Jesus. I pray that you would feel a fresh fire of the Holy Spirit churning and burning within you like never before, in Jesus' mighty name. Amen.
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Nate Johnston
Everyday Revivalists
Email:Â everydayrevivalists@gmail.com
Website:Â nateandchristy.co
Nate Johnston is a prophetic voice and worshiper who has a heart to see sons and daughters unleashed into passionate friendship with God and an effective supernatural lifestyle. Through his ministry school, "Everyday Revivalists," he leads people from the basics of the gospel through to being sent and released into their mission field, as well as championing and raising up emerging prophetic voices around the world. His burning cry and desire is to see the Body of Christ become a beacon for the lost by raising up a generation that walks in the love and power of God, representing Him well. Nate and his wife Christy have three daughters, Charlotte, Sophie, and Ava and live in Colorado Springs, CO.
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