Breath

Have you ever wondered if God really is doing anything in your life today? Have you felt alone? Have you felt like God is sitting back watching you trip and fall and not intervening? Do you feel like the only things that are getting accomplished are the things you are doing all by yourself with no help from God at all? Let’s test your theory for proof…

Whatever you are doing, right at this moment, large or small – hold your breath.

Counting…1…2…3…

4…5…6……

...Don’t take a breath…keep holding….

…keep holding…

…keep holding…

…keep holding…

Now BREATHE before you pass out!

Genesis 2:4 – 7 speaks of the creation of man. Verse 7 says: “the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

From the first breath you took on the day you were born until now, God has been with you. In all your work, in all your life, God makes you physically able to accomplish the goals He has set for you. If God were not present with you, if God were not concerned for you, if your work was not important – all He would have to do is take away the breath of life He gave you and it would be finished.

If you are still breathing – there is still important work for you to do.

If you are still breathing, God is still with you – you are not working alone.

Sometimes our life’s work lets us breathe rested and easy like a sleeping child, sometimes it leaves us short of breath and struggling for the next step. But God always breathes easy and it is He who supplies our very breath.

Acts 17:25 -28 says:

²⁵And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. ²⁶From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. ²⁷God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ²⁸'For in him we live and move and have our being.'

So don’t grow weary in your work. God is with you. If things seem impossible, perhaps you are trying to live, move and have your being in your own strength. It is true that on our own, without dependence on God, there is much in our life and our work that is impossible. But, as it says in Luke 18:27, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."

So when things get “impossible” in your life and work, take a moment…take a deep breath…and remember – God is in you, God is with you and what is impossible for you alone, is absolutely possible through Him. With every breath you take He is living and moving and making the impossible – possible in you.

Do not grow weary, rest in Him. Breathe easy and rest.

Recipe for a Rainbow

The other day I was pleasantly surprised by the sight of the most beautiful double rainbow I have seen in some time. Normally when I see a rainbow, I am in the car and it seems very far away, but the other day it was right there in my neighborhood. We were literally right under the rainbow. To be able to get the rainbow framed in the camera lens, I had to almost lay on back or get on my knees. It was so beautiful, and so big!

Just this Sunday we had a word of encouragement – not to give up on our dreams. Many of us in our church have dreams of ministry. Some have had these dreams for years. It was said that if God gives us the dreams, they are really His promises and He will make them come to pass. He says in His Word:

"For God's gifts and his call are irrevocable."
- Romans 11:29

He will make us able to accomplish all that is needed for those dreams.

"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you
will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus".
Philippians 1:6

Standing there, looking up at the rainbow, I was reminded of those words.

The first thought a rainbow always brings to me is “a promise kept”. The first rainbow was set as a sign in the clouds when the flood was over and Noah and his family came out of the ark for the first time in over a month. God promised never to destroy the earth by flood again. (Genesis 9:8-16). He has kept His word to Noah and I know He will keep His word to us as well.

I learned something else about rainbows that day. I know the science behind a rainbow is based on: the elements of water vapor and a setting sun and the natural law of refraction - all created and set in order by the hand of God. (Psalm 89:11) But here are a few scientific observations I had never made or received before that day:

• It was drizzling a fine mist of rain when I saw the rainbow. If I had not been willing to stand in the rain, I never would have seen the rainbow.

• Depending on where I was standing to take the picture, the rainbow was either crisp, clear and brilliant, or grainy and faint, or not even visible. Physical position determined my perspective and my perspective determined what was visible to me.

• I and my family were the only ones on my street who even saw the rainbow – everyone else was either indoors or not at home. Even some of my family were aware it was there, but not nearly as interested or excited as I was.

I soaked in the expressly childhood joy of seeing that rainbow. My whole day of work and play just melted in comparison of that one moment of taking in the rainbow.

For three days, my spirit has been soaking in these things that the Lord taught me about dreams and goals from that one “rainbow moment”.

• The promises of God are true – whether things are good or bad in my life at the time. When things seem dismal and dreary, if I simply look up to my heavenly Father – He will remind me of His promises and His faithfulness and I will have the joy and encouragement to keep moving on. Only God can put a rainbow in the sky and only God can make a promise and keep it.

• Faith is the position that determines my perspective. The rainbow exists, whether I can see it or touch it, or not. God’s promises are true whether I can see it or feel it or not. If I can’t see God’s promises clearly and I feel that it doesn’t exist, I need to change my position in faith. Many times that means getting on my knees to put myself in a position to capture the reality of God’s promise and His faithfulness.

• When God makes a promise to you – it is personal. No one else (your church, your friends, your family) will receive it with the same measure of faith, joy and excitement that you do – unless God makes the promise to them personally as well. Just as you have a position of faith, so do those who surround you. If you can see the rainbow clearly, but they cannot. It doesn’t mean that God does not exist and that He is not faithful to the word He has given you, it simply means they are not standing in the same position of faith that you are about this particular promise. Depend on God’s promises to carry you through – His position, faith and promise never changes.

So today, I encourage you to ask God – “What rainbow, what promise, do you have for my life? If You already gave it to me, am I still in the right faith position to see it clearly? If not, help me get on my knees until I can see You, your promises and your Word clearly. Then let the joy and excitement of your "rainbow moment" of God's call on your life and His promise to complete it carry you through to the end of the work God has called you to do.