IMPLANTS OF BREATH

Lately my mind seems to gravitate to the subject of breath more than on other occasions. Not in terms of actually inhaling and exhaling, but more the simple issue of joy. That is for me an issue of spiritual breathing in part. It is to me what constitutes the warm and soothing breeze of the holy spirit in quiet or trouble times that keeps us from being prisoner of life’s shadows and ghouls.

I don’t wish to become too redundant on this subject. However I think it does merit more reflection. In this case I’m thinking of the times when we truly feeling out of breath and unable to inhale in terms of having the strength to keep trusting the Lord. This can happen if you are in the midst of a very long valley of struggle without being able to see the horizon. It is easy to want to just sit down and give up.

Oh I imagine there are some super spiritual beings that might claim they never have this problem. But I’m not among them.

To me life is not lived in golden hues of pristine clarity or perennial elegance in terms of the fruit of our lives. It is often marred, unpredictable and filled with the darts that cause small wounds to our understanding and heart. We end up consumed by spending so much time looking for some kind of band-aid.

And that can include church, which would be fine if one found a first aid kit as advertised. Instead if you arrive looking for a way to stop the bleeding and only are offered a knife is that really spiritual first aid?

Perhaps I am more prone to dwell on the flip side of adulation because it is most common to my experience. So I come to the circle of thought where I must look up and seek that special implant of spiritual breath for when somebody has literally through their caustic self righteous behavior knocked the wind from my soul’s life.

God, so merciful and understanding can be so touching with sending such an implant. It normally comes from the most unexpected sources. Seldom though has that included those who always have a bible on them, but seem more interested in beating you to death with it than reading it.

For me the implants of often come through means, circumstances and sources I would have never imagined. It has made me appreciate how much the Lord truly is sovereign over things we sometimes take for granted or do associate with the Lord.

Thus the message for me is a simple one. If our lungs of spiritual breath that we use to trust God are lacking his air and not very strong, sometimes they need implants to work correctly. The only question is whether we are ready and willing to accept such assistance when it is available.

As with so many the real answer remains affixed to the invisible gust of God’s will that blows through his desires. We just have to be prepared to see it when it rustles the tree branches even if the tree isn’t one we want to notice.