Bringing Forth Wind

Have you ever stopped to consider your life: where you've been and where you're going, and what you have really accomplished in your days on the earth? It seems like so many live and die without considering the consequential effect of their life. Some have reached the conclusion that it doesn't really matter...

We have been with child, we have been in pain; we have, as it were, brought forth wind; we have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth, nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen. (Isaiah 26:18)

Can you imagine that: laboring to give birth, only to bring forth wind? The prophet Isaiah was speaking to a people who had abandoned their very purpose and reason for living. They went on living, but fell far short of the great light of love and justice that was supposed to shine forth from them — to illuminate and enlighten the other nations around them.

They continued to bring forth children who, like their own parents, fell far short of fulfilling the great purpose for which they were created. Isaiah described these offspring as “wind” — a metaphor comparing them with a momentary breath of air that comes and goes with no effect. They accomplished no deliverance on the earth.

Did the Sixties Movement Only Bring Forth Wind?

Have you ever wondered if the movement of the Sixties just brought forth wind? What did the Movement accomplish for the good of man? I suppose it would depend on how one defines “good.” Sometimes the lines seem a little blurred. In the Sixties, we cast off all restraint in the name of “freedom.” But did we create a better world for our children to grow up in than the one we inherited? Can we look back with satisfaction, knowing that it was worth it all?

A woman can endure labor pains for the joy of what follows — having a child who grows up and accomplishes his purpose in life. She has hope that something great is ahead, and that gives her courage to go through tremendous suffering. But what if she only brought forth wind?

During Isaiah's time, Israel endured much suffering, but it just brought forth wind. They didn't establish the kingdom of love and justice they were supposed to. It seems that “bringing forth wind” is a metaphor for a meaningless labor — expressing regret over the failure to be a vessel for the good.

Some ask, “Did the Movement accomplish its purpose?” Or did we just bring forth a “child” that brought ridicule and insult to our high ideals? Is the endless nostalgia just a mockery of the real passion that burned in our hearts? Do all our stories from those days just express futility because of our failure to establish the Woodstock Nation? We can tell ourselves that we made some progress for humanity, brought in a “higher consciousness,” but wouldn't a higher consciousness bring about a higher reality?

The old proverb says, “He who troubles his own house will inherit wind.” So was the Movement undermined from within or without? Perhaps we shot ourselves in the foot when we decided to “question authority,” or dismiss what anyone else had to say as “relative truth.” Who then could lead us? Can a movement succeed that is founded on rebellion?

It was all too clear to us in our idealistic youth how messed up this crazy world was, and that the root of the problem was the corruption of man. So we sought to separate ourselves from all the hypocrisy, greed, and selfishness we saw all around us. We had vision to come together and really love one another. But when it all played out we came to see that we are all made of the same stuff, and that it is too much to expect man to live according to all those high ideals. But why were those desires so deep in our hearts if it was impossible to realize?

Man's Redemption

We have come to see that it's not impossible. That deep longing for love and justice was put in our hearts for a reason — it's what we were created for. But man, in his independence and rebellion, has lost that vital connection to our Creator, which would enable us to get beyond our own selfishness and pride and really love one another.

Once again, in these last days, God is raising up a witness on the earth of His great love for mankind and His power to redeem1 man and bring him into what He created him for in the first place. We're not talking about another charismatic TV preacher with a new angle on the truth, or a great campaign to print and distribute Bibles in every language, but a people who love one another and their Creator with all of their hearts.

That is what men and women who are being redeemed are like. Their daily life together bears witness of the kindness and mercy of God. This is the new social order that we longed for in the counter-culture of the '60s, but could never attain. This is the witness of love and justice — not a perfect people or a Utopian life, but real, down-to-earth people who are experiencing deep salvation and tremendous healing in their souls. What we couldn't do with our best intentions and high ideals, God is doing through His Son, Yahshua. So, who do you suppose put that desire for love and justice in our heart in the first place? Surely He wouldn't call us to something that couldn't be done!

So, are you following what we're saying here? There is an actual people, a new social order, a brand new culture on the earth today where redemption is taking place. We came forth out of the dust and ashes of the '60s Movement and the Jesus Movement of the early '70s. Many of us went through those turbulent years, and we understand what that was all about. But we see that somehow we're actually coming into what was in our hearts all those years ago. How are we doing it? Well, how does a tree grow? God makes it grow. Wherever God is there is love and new life and the power to go beyond what we can do in our own strength.

So we're restoring a concept that is not the same as what you heard growing up in Church. For we see that there are three eternal destinies of man, not just two (Heaven or Hell). We understand that God does not despise the good man. Even though man could never reach his fullest potential on his own, it is still possible for a man to do good to his neighbor. You can probably think of many examples of great men and women who never claimed to have a special connection to God. But it seems that great men are disappearing from the earth...