Just Breathe

I was sitting at my desk this afternoon, working ... and thinking. Not those fluffy, white cloud thoughts. No. It was those thoughts that intrude, that want to take over and wrestle your hope to the ground.

You know what I mean?

Just then my son passed my office and I caught two words of the song he was singing: "Just breathe." Those two words woke me up out of my 'thinking coma'.

Immediately a memory of my midwife came to mind. During the delivery of one of my sons she said, "Breathe." I had been holding my breath trying to bear the pain of contractions. She gently instructed me to breathe with the pain. She reminded me that my body, my baby, and the process needed the oxygen and the rhythm of my breathing.

And today the Spirit whispered to me, "Don't hold your breath. Breathe." He reminds me of that from time to time because sometimes emotionally I hold my breath.

Do you do that, too? Do you sometimes forget to breathe? Do you see a storm barreling across the horizon of life and you hold your breath, imagining the chaos it could cause? Do you see that dear friend who no longer speaks to you, and you get so caught up in the sorrowful thoughts of lost friendship that you forget to breathe? Do the tasks that lay ahead come to mind and the share breadth and depth of them take your breath away, and you feel like you can't breathe?

Today I want to remind you to breathe.

Holding your breath won't help the situation. It won't help calm your thoughts. It won't bring peace or resolution. So breathe. Literally ... and emotionally. Let the tension out with each exhale. Breathe in God ... His truth, His hope, His promises ... His presence.

He is a very present help in time of trouble. You are not alone. He is able to carry you through. You have ground to cover, and lessons to learn, and healing to experience, and a race to run. You can do it.
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Just breathe.