Read: John 3:1-15
The wind blows wherever it pleases . . . So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. (v. 8 NIV)
What is your faith story? We sometimes think our testimony needs to be dramatic to be a “real” testimony. But the beautiful truth is that every story of being made alive in Christ is real and deeply valuable. It’s in the uniqueness and diversity of our testimonies that we experience the power and glory of the Holy Spirit’s work, calling forth light, life, and the Spirit giving birth to spirit “wherever it pleases.” (v. 8).
Who among Nicodemus’s fellow Pharisees or among Jesus’s disciples would have ever imagined his meeting with Jesus that night? And yet there Nicodemus was, the teacher of Israel’s law, in the dark of night, meeting the embodied fulfillment of the Law who spoke to him of light, new birth, and everlasting life. The same ruakh Holy Spirit wind that hovered over creation was at work again, bringing Nicodemus to Jesus. While the Bible doesn’t explicitly say whether he was “born of the Spirit” (v. 6) that night, we know Nicodemus later defends Jesus’s right to a fair trial (John 7:50-51) and tenderly helps prepare Jesus’s body for burial (19:39).
Every testimony of faith is uniquely our own, yet it’s the one Spirit working “wherever it pleases” who initiates each story. As we—the body of Christ—share our testimonies, we see the wide, long, high, and deep love and work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
As you pray, give thanks to God for the unique experiences that make up your own story.
Linda R. Rubingh is a parent, pastor, therapist, and writer with a passion for sharing the gospel with youth nationally and internationally. She is the co-founder with her husband, Trevor, of New City Kids, and more recently New City Networks, and is completing her first children’s book, I Love to Tell the Story: Stories of Meeting Jesus from Every Nation, Tribe and Tongue. Linda is a New Jersey native but now lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
