Ruach

Ruach

Ruach (pronounced roo-akh) is Hebrew for Spirit, breath or wind. As the new year begins, I want my goals, direction and motivation to be moving with the wind.

Have you ever tried going against the wind? It is hard work. Back in my younger days, we were up in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. We had to get to the other side of the lake to our portage landing. That is where we carry our gear across land to the next lake on our route.

There was a storm brewing and the Ruach was strong producing white capped waves. It took everything we had to paddle across. When we finally reached land, we were exhausted. We reached our goal destination but was it really worth it?

1-2 God grabbed me. God’s Spirit took me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones. He led me around and among them—a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain—dry bones, bleached by the sun. He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”I said, “Master God, only you know that.” He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones: ‘Dry bones, listen to the Message of God!’” 5-6 God, the Master, told the dry bones, “Watch this: I’m bringing the breath of life to you and you’ll come to life. I’ll attach sinews to you, put meat on your bones, cover you with skin, and breathe life into you. You’ll come alive and you’ll realize that I am God!”(Ezekiel 37: 1-6 MSG).

Many times in my life I have headed down a path toward a goal without paying attention to the wind before getting started. Somewhere along the path, I become exhausted and realize I wasn’t paying attention to Ruach.

This year, I am spending time listening to God’s Spirit first. I’m leaning into places in my life that Ruach wants to strengthen. I know there are some muscles to build.

How are you at leaning into Ruach rather than fighting against her? Do you check the wind first? Share your experience here and breathe life and bring hope to others.

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