Breathe!
By Beth Lutz Godi
I know the word sounds generic and overused. I was going to use my friend Cindy Angell Fulton’s favorite word EXHALE as I love the meaning so much. To her, exhale is a slowing down, a surrendering, a peace despite all of life’s circumstances, an ease with who you are and with your friends Although I do need all the exhale ,this year is really about breathing for me. All of it, not just the exhale.
The Old Testament and New Testament are filled with references to breath and breathing. Breath means God’s Spirit. In the beginning, the Spirit hovered over the waters and then God breathed life into creation, a very intimate act of love and power. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit again breathed life and was in them — it was the exhale of Jesus giving them the Holy Spirit and all that is necessary for abundant life in Him. Every breath we take is symbolic of the Spirit’s presence.
The past few years have been filled with deep soul crushing pain that made me really wrestle with God and His plans. I have learned the language of deep lament. I have known betrayal and hurt from many around me, including those who were supposed to love me most. I have even felt the church turn its back on me. I have worked through forgiveness without others making things right and learned to put off things that hinder me from seeking God and His Kingdom first. Oh, it will be a lifelong battle of the flesh. But this denying of self has brought me face to face with the beauty of Christ.
So this year, I want to fill my lungs with the breath of my Creator, the one who calls me good and his beloved child. I want to inhale God’s exhale- his mercy and grace and love. I want to exhale and continue to hand him the reigns of my life. I want to breathe out the impurities, the sin, the fear, the lies, the poison. I want to return wholeheartedly to God confessing sin, trusting in His forgiveness and grace and having faith that His promises are true to the end. This is not about my effort or defeat but about His working in me and breathing Life into me. Gretchen Saffles says “When we slow down to pray and pour our thoughts and worries before God, we release the worries that cause the dam to break in our minds. We breathe in God’s mercy that enables us to rest and breathe out the worry. “ Isaiah 36:3 says “You will keep in perfect peace, all who trust in You and whose thoughts are fixed in you .” I want to breath in that perfect peace and exhale kindness and love and the aroma of Christ to those around me. I want to breathe in the breath of good friendship, those friends that show love and grace and make me turn to prayer to be intimate and draw breath from my Savior.
I want to exhale in praise for all the Lord has done even in and through the pain. I don’t want to wallow in the pain but take big gulping breaths of Life, of Him. I want to find myself as He created me to be. I want to breathe in the fresh air of a godly church that loves and values its members as necessary to the life and work of the church. I want to soak in His Word through preaching and personal study. I want to find His renewed purposes for my life. I want to show my kids the Peace that passeth all understanding and the joy of the Lord.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will help me breathe in and breathe out and live for His kingdom. Contentment, then, is the product of a heart resting in God. It is the soul’s enjoyment of that peace that passes all understanding. It is the outcome of my will being brought into subjection to the Divine will. It is the blessed assurance that God does all things well, and is, even now, making all things work together for my ultimate good. Arthur W. Pink I want to continue to breathe in the Holy Spirit and the assurance that is God is working all things out for my ultimate good . So this year is about Breathing , about Life , about moving forward inhaling and exhaling one step at a time. Job 33:4 says, “The Spirit of God has made me and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. “ Psalm 31:6-7 says, “I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love,for you have seen my troubles, and you care about the anguish of my soul. 8 You have not handed me over to my enemies but have set me in a safe place.”
