the Breeze that is God

In our adult Sunday School class we're working our way through "Firm Foundations", an intense study from Creation to Christ produced by New Tribes Mission. 

We're now at about lesson 12 and last Sunday talked about the serpent's deception and Eve's taking the bait. I'm more convinced than ever that Genesis 3 is my least favorite chapter in the entire Bible. Every time I read through the Scripture I dread Genesis 3. It gives me a sinking feeling. We blew it. God gave us perfection, and we blew it. God started out with the ultimate life and we messed it up. But that's not really what this post is about. End of rabbit trail. 

The verse that really caught my attention though is verse 8. "And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. . ."

The word cool also means "breeze, wind, breath" and "spirit of the living". This word "cool" is found 379 times and is translated "spirit" 227 times, "wind" 82 times, "breath" 27 times, various other words the rest of the times, but only once as "cool". 

I began to wonder: What does it sound like when God walks through the garden? What does it sound like when He walks through my garden? 

Psalm 139:7 "Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your Presence?" Guess what. That word "Spirit" is the same word as "cool" in Genesis 3:8. 

Then my mind did a mini marathon and arrived at Acts 2:1-2. "And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all assembled together in one place, when suddenly there came a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting."

There it is again: sound, and wind. Oh, to have the Spirit of the Living God fall fresh on me! The mighty Breeze of God Himself. The sound of God walking in the garden. 

So, when I once again hang laundry out to dry in the Spring, or when I sit on my front porch after a long day, or when I stand high on a mountain top and feel a breeze, I will remember that my God is a Breeze, a Wind. It is His Spirit passing by. Wanting to be near me. Wanting to swirl around me and tease my hair. Wanting to dance beside me. Wanting to remind me of the nearness of Himself. 

That is my God. The sound of my God, walking in the garden.