As I sat and thought about the devotional, He kept pressing on me this word, "breathe". One of my best girl friends and I (and my mom too!) always encourage each other with this word in times of stress. "Breathe....one step at a time... breathe" are common texts between us. I kept thinking about the breath of life God breathed into Adam.... and as I sat meditating on this, I do feel the Lord gave me a message for my friend that is intensely struggling right now.... and for my own heart as well. Here is what I typed and gave to her:
Breathe
I am the source & sustainer of your life.
When I breathed
into Adam the breath of life (Gen 2:7) it was a foreshadowing of the plan I had
prepared for my children.
John 20:22 …He breathed on them and said,
“Receive the Holy Spirit”…
For you (my
daughter) every breath you take physically is a reminder of the sustaining I am
giving to your soul moment by moment.
When you feel
my presence and when you don’t…when you feel fully alive and when you feel
lifeless – I am sustaining you, always! You are alive and you will be breathing
for eternity! I am keeping your faith life intact and always will, for.ev.er!
I don’t want
you to worry about how many breaths you will take on this earth. In fact, don’t think about that at all. I
know exactly every breath you will take on this earth. I don’t want you to
know.
Instead, let
every breath you take be a reminder to you that you are one breath closer to
seeing me face to face. You are one
breath closer to being fully enclosed in the shadow of my wings , fully healed,
fully satisfied. Let that hope encourage
your soul & give you the fuel necessary to focus on the present moment you
are breathing in.
You can’t see
me face to face yet… but my children at any time can be still and know that it
is my breath they are breathing and
that closeness will give the peace & love that is needed to take one step forward.
Just like I
don’t give you ALL the air you will need for the rest of your life at any given
moment, I will only give you what you need (peace, joy, strength) one moment at
a time. So focus on right now. Don’t
allow anxiety to enter as you compare what you have now to what may or may not
be ahead. It’s true, you don’t have
enough for what is ahead – but don’t be fooled – you don’t need anymore than
what you have right now! And when you get to the next moment, you will have
enough then, too.
Every time you
are full of dread, fear or heartache and find yourself saying, “breathe” – know
that that moment, too, is a gift from me!
When you are nudging
yourself to just “breathe” - that is my spirit in you drawing your attention
back to the sustainer of your life. It
is me reminding you how close I am to you – so close that I am not only right
here with you – but it is MY breath of life in you.
So fill those
lungs my child!! Have grace for yourself
every time you lose focus and praise me for the tough times because when all
you can do is “breathe” then all you are doing is focusing on me!
I have great
plans for you my child and through each moment, my breath of life in you will be sustaining
you.
Breathe and
know that I am God and you are mine!
2 comments:
Randi, this post is priceless!
Thank you! so much Jim for your encouragement. I really felt when writing this that it was a gift from the Lord to my heart and to my friend's as well. The words didn't feel like they originated with me. I am sure you know how much of a blessing it is to be used. Better to give than to receive! :) Have a beautiful day!!
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