Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Eastertide
Acts 4:32-37
Jn 3:7-15
“The wind blows where it pleases; you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.”
Jesus explains to Nicodemus that the ‘new birth’ is a spiritual transformation, not a physical one, caused by the Holy Spirit, which acts freely like the wind. He highlights the need to believe in him — the Son of Man who came from heaven — for eternal life, comparing his coming crucifixion to Moses lifting the serpent in the desert.
There is a man in this passage I recognise in myself.
Nicodemus was accomplished. He had studied, built a reputation, earned a seat at the table. He came to Jesus at night — and I wonder sometimes if it was not just the hour, but the posture. A man who had spent his days being capable, coming quietly in the dark to admit he did not understand.
I know that posture.
Most days I move fast. Decisions at work, questions from the children, the thousand small demands that fill the hours between waking and sleep. I have learned to project competence — it is part of how I provide, how I lead, how I show up. But there are nights or early mornings; when I sit with the quiet and feel the gap between the man others see, and the man I know myself to be. Tired. Sometimes lost. Unsure if I am doing any of this well. Sometimes so lost that I feel like I am almost an imposter.
I have a reputation at work.
If something is difficult or is almost an impossible task to achieve, it is passed to me. No, not the most profitable client, nor the most pleasant client to deal with. When I receive the task, I usually have no clue where to begin. But then the ADHD kicks in. I put aside everything else and focus on the end. Multi-tasking is a foreign word to me. It is impossible for me, as my attention quickly shifts back to the assigned problem. Over the years, I have learnt the importance of continuously committing my work to God. Somehow, most often; I manage to deliver as expected.
Jesus does not rebuke Nicodemus for his confusion. He does not dismiss him. He simply tells him the truth: the wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. The Spirit is not a system I can master. He is not a formula I can apply if I read enough, pray enough, try harder. He moves. He works in ways I cannot engineer nor predict.
That is both unsettling and deeply freeing.
I cannot manufacture spiritual transformation in my own heart, or in my children’s. I cannot produce it in my home by sheer effort. What I am called to is not mastery — it is openness. To stop coming to God only when I have something figured out, and to come to Him precisely when I don’t.
The Son of Man must be lifted up, Jesus says. And those who look to Him will live. Not those who have achieved understanding. Not those who have earned their place. Those who look.
Today, I want to be Nicodemus in the best sense — willing to come in the dark, willing to ask, willing to sit with mystery without needing to resolve it before morning.
I do not need to understand the wind. I just need to let it move.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Gerard Francis)
Prayer: Lord, give me a heart that recognises Your power, and help me to stand fully on Your side, allowing Your Spirit to move within me and guide me.
Thanksgiving: We give thanks for the messages you deliver to us to guide us along our way.
OXYGEN 
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