Wings of the Wind

Waking in the middle of the night, I felt an extreme amount of hopelessness and despair.  As I came out of my sleep I thought, “This is not like me.”  Then I knew.  I was feeling the emotions of a client I had worked with for over eleven years, after going to sleep complaining to the Lord that I did not want to do this anymore.

About a year earlier I had nineteen six-hour prayer sessions in one month, and during the final session of that year the Lord took her to the realm of I Am.  The power of God that came upon us was so great that when the session was over I was so exhausted that I lay down for almost two hours trying to recover; and then for almost two weeks, the exhaustion continued.  How was it possible to still have so much deliverance from evil after so many years of ministry?  Was there ever going to be an end to this?  If there is an infinite number of dimensions and if every dimension is infinite, is it ever possible to see a person totally set free?  Thus, on that night I felt the despair and hopelessness of the situation, but also felt her hopelessness.  I did not want to do this anymore and prayed, “Lord, please take this cup from me.”

The next morning, I told the client the hopelessness I felt and was stunned by her response, “You have finally connected to me in a way no one else has.  Someone finally understands how I am feeling.”  She finally felt that someone understood what she was going through, and while that made me feel good I still wondered when or if the breakthrough would ever happen.  What kind of power would be needed to bring resolution to the perplexities of her life?

It is at such points of desperation that the Lord often reveals a new and more powerful weapon in His arsenal.  Centuries ago, toward the end of his life, King David discovered this truth.  He had experienced many battles. He had committed adultery.  He had been complicit in a murder.  His affair had devasted his life, his family and his nation.  He was at the point of utter despair when he wrote:

The pains of death surrounded me, and the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.

The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon the Lord,

And cried out to my God;

He heard my voice from His temple,

And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.[1]

It is unknown how long David called upon the Lord during his time of despair, but then there was a ‘suddenly’ and Psalm 18 became a record of both his pain and his rescue.  At some point, the Lord had seen enough of His enemies pushing back against David and action was required.

Just a moment before God’s response, David still did not know when the Lord would ever answer his plea.  Perhaps he thought, “What else can I do? I have two choices: I can ask the Lord to take me home now, or I can continue to fight.” Eventually we all say either, “God, I will not give up on You; but You must liberate me from this pain I am in” or; “God, I am now going to find another god because You have failed me!”

David did not give up on God. What were his words again?

In my distress I called upon the Lord;

And cried out to my God;

He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to his ears.

But then there was a moment, a ‘then’, when there was a shift for David, and now I was waiting for the ‘then’ with my client when the first week of November 2017 arrived, and Donna and I had come to Kaneohe, Hawaii.  On the first Sunday of a five-Sunday ministry trip, I was waiting on the Lord for direction about the sermon I was to preach when I again felt what I had previously discerned with the client.  Immediately, I knew what I was going to talk about, but it would be more than a talk; it would be a demonstration of the power of God; a new demonstration; a new level of freedom; a new level of breakthrough.  It would be Psalm 18, so let’s pick up where we left off:

‘Then’ the earth shook and trembled;

The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,

Because He was angry. Smoke went up from His nostrils,

And devouring fire from His mouth;

Coals were kindled by it.

He bowed the heavens also, and came down

With darkness under His feet.

And He rode upon a cherub, and flew;

He flew upon the wings of the wind.

He made darkness His secret place;

His canopy around Him was dark waters

And thick clouds of the skies.

 From the brightness before Him,

His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.

The Lord thundered from heaven,

And the Most High uttered His voice,

Hailstones and coals of fire.

He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe,

Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.

Then the channels of the sea were seen,

The foundations of the world were uncovered

At Your rebuke, O Lord,

At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

 He sent from above, He took me;

He drew me out of many waters.

He delivered me from my strong enemy,

From those who hated me,

For they were too strong for me.[2]

I believe there’s a point when finally the Lord says, “It is time,” and I knew that the time had come for something new to happen.  The realization had come when shortly after we had landed in Hawaii for the one-month trip, and I had just awakened from a good night’s sleep and heard the Lord say, “Psalm 18.”  Then He gave me the phrase, “The wings of the wind,” and I recalled that the ministry with my long-term client had resulted in a new discernment of ‘the wings of the wind’, along with a new display of the power of the Lord.  However, I really did not understand much about the ‘wings of the wind.’  Were they living beings?  How did they function?  Why were they released now?  At this point, all I knew was that my sermon would have a beginning; but where would it end?

At church, my sermon had been completed but we were not finished!  It was now time to explore! Our son and daughter-in-law, Brian and Janelle, had joined us for the first part of the ministry trip, and when I asked the congregation for input, Brian spoke first, “What it looks like to me is there is a wing on each side of the carpet.”

“How strange,” I thought, “Just a wing?  Nothing attached to the wing?”

Then a seer observed, “They don’t look like angels because there is an angel missing.  It’s like there’s a pair of wings, a tiny pair of wings at the bottom, and there seems to be something in the middle.  I saw three of them over there; then I saw them shoot out back; and then they started spinning this way, and it seems they were creating wind.  I knew this even though wind is invisible.  I think it may be the breath of God.”

Our interactive time with the Lord had begun!  I then felt an angel come with a message and asked Rob Gross, the pastor of Mountain View Community Church, to come forward to receive the message.

The power of the Lord came upon Rob and he began speaking:

Just as I brought My people out of Egypt on the wings of love, I am going to bring forth not only this congregation, but also this state, out of Egyptian captivity into the Promised Land (praying in tongues). You will leave the shores of these islands in many canoes and you will go forth into the world, to the nations of this earth; and you shall release My glory, for the Kingdom of God is here. I release it now.  Will you receive it?

The Lord says, “Will you receive it?”  The Lord wants to know, “Will you receive it with the heart of David?”

I will destroy addiction in this state.  I’m coming to deal with it now. I’m going to deal with hopelessness, and divorce, and families that are in disarray.  I’m going to sweep through and release My Father’s heart on this land for I am not looking for men and women who want to take a city, but for men and women who want to father and mother the land.  I’m looking for men and women of courage, men and women who have the heart of David who desire to release My love on My land.  Like Isaiah, will you stand to your feet and say, “Here I am Lord, send me”?  Will you go forth from My Temple into the streets, into the highways and byways, into the nations of this earth?  Waves of breakthrough have been sent from Heaven to the Hawaiian Islands.  Get out your surfboards and get on the wave for this is a tidal wave of My presence.  It is not what you think it is. I am going to have you release control to me.  Rend your heart, and I will rend Heaven; rend your hearts to Me, and I will rend the heavens and come down.

I say to you, do not be afraid; for decades you have called out to Me to send My Glory into these islands and into the ends of the earth. I give you My heart; you need My heart.  There is a geyser of living water that is rising up out of the land, and out of My people in this hour.  The weapon that brings the enemy down is love.  It is love you need.  My love.  You can’t do it in your love.  You must have My love moving in you and thru you for the people.  Today is the day.  If you would rend your hearts, then I will rend the heavens and come down and release My love in each of you, My burning love.”

A person seated close to the front of the auditorium shared, “First, I just assumed with my mind that you were talking about small little coals to cleanse our lips or our mouths, but instead what I saw were big rocks, big hot rocks, and something that hold the stones.  I heard, ‘Stand in the coals, brandish the feet.’ I didn’t even know what brandish meant; my living dictionary says, ‘Brandish means to shake something like a sword to show that you’re armed to scare off your enemy.’  I’ve heard of brandish the sword, but brandish the feet was kind of awkward or weird, so what does it mean?  I think it means to get your feet ready, get your feet on fire, get your feet cleansed, holy, and do something with your feet.”

Rob then responded, “I felt like I didn’t finish the word, but the other weapon is Peace, the Gospel of Peace; it’s love and it’s peace.”

And then the ‘suddenly’ happened!  The ‘then’ happened!  I felt the anger of the Lord against all that His people had been going through because of the oppression of the enemy; I knew the Lord’s wrath was being poured out against the enemy, and could feel deliverance taking place.  The wings of the wind had been released, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against His foes.

Brian stood up and boldly spoke, “What are you waiting for? I think there is a gate here and when you walk through the gate into the coals and stand, He says, ‘The wings of the wind are fanning the fire,’ which will increase the deliverance and the freedom.  I’ve never said this before; I feel the Lord is very angry about what the enemy has done to you and it’s time to say, ‘Enough!’ In fact, you have said it before, but now I think He is the one saying, ‘Enough!’”

And so it happened.  The people walked through the fire while the wings of the wind fanned that fire, and new freedom came.  It is abundantly clear that when the these beings are present, so is the indescribable presence and power of God; there is no longer any place for hopelessness and despair, and we can join with the psalmist in rejoicing:

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, You are very great:
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment,
Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.

He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters,
Who makes the clouds His chariot,
Who walks on the wings of the wind,
Who makes His angels spirits,
His ministers a flame of fire…

May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
May the Lord rejoice in His works.

He looks on the earth, and it trembles;
He touches the hills, and they smoke.

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
May my meditation be sweet to Him;
I will be glad in the Lord.
May sinners be consumed from the earth,
And the wicked be no more.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Praise the Lord.[3]

[1] Psalm 18:4-6 NKJV

[2] Psalm 18:7-17 NKJV

[3] Psalm 104:1-4, 31-35 NKJV