Take a Deep Breath

We fill our lungs with oxygen, breathing deeply before diving into deep waters or giving someone bad news.

We take a deep breath to calm down or psych ourselves up.

We realize and crave the benefit of that extra oxygen before big or hard things, exciting or risky things.

But each uneventful minute has its breaths too. We hardly give a second thought to those breaths, and yet without them we would die.

Sometimes Jesus works the way that oxygen does in our lives. We need Him to live, but when all is well we don’t put much thought into His benefits.

It can take big or hard things, exciting or risky things, or being faced with bad news or deep waters to draw our attention back to the benefit and necessity of Jesus. When we face those things, we do need Him all the more. We need those deeper breaths, filling our lungs to capacity with Christ.

When we forget to breathe effectively, to employ its incredible benefits, we are missing the opportunity for calm, strength, and healing. So it is with Christ.

Psalm 103:1-5

Praise the Lord, my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul,

 and forget not all his benefits— 

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Life is so quick to take the wind from our sails, and cut short our breath with its twists and surprises. We know that’s the nature of life in this sinful world.

Focusing on our breath of life, Christ, and consciously thanking Him for that daily breath, seeking him for that spiritual oxygen in all circumstances, creates a resiliency we can’t find anywhere else.

Philipians 4:4-9
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God,which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

When you’re filled with Christ and life faces you with its deep waters, breathe deeper. Whatever the outcome, your salvation is secure. God holds you in His hands, and nothing can separate you from His love. 

Romans 5:1-6
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out in to our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

So, take a deep breath.