B E H I N D / T H E / B A R

Life can be so stressful.  I don’t know if you handle stress the same way that I do, but I often find that I internalize stress quite a bit.  Now sometimes, I’ll reach a point that I just can’t hold it in anymore and well . . . lets’ just leave that there. 

I was in the gym the other day, relieving some stress when I realized I was breathing all wrong.  Inhaling when I should be exhaling, exhaling when I should be inhaling, and at one point, simply holding my breath all together.  It was at the point that I felt light headed and the room started spinning that I realized I needed to make some adjustments. 

I often find parallels between my physical and spiritual life, and this was one of those parallels.  So often in life I encounter situations that are stressful, uncertain, even scary and my natural instinct is to hold my breath.  Its an uncomfortable place of fear, and doubt, and “Oh No!!!!!”  I was in one of those places recently.  I was praying about a situation, and my prayer was more of a pleading out of desperation type of prayer, “Oh God . . .  .Please . . . If you don’t then. . . God I’m begging you!”  All of a sudden I just felt this gentle nudge from Him, telling me “Just breathe.”  I did. I did again.  And Again.  And immediately I began to feel peace.

In Judaism the name of God is forbidden to be spoken, and many scholars say that the name of God is actually impossible to be spoken.  Its a name without vowels, only consonants.  The Hebrew letters are Yod-Hay-Vav-Hay.  In English the letters for the name of God are Y-H-W-H, and if you try to pronounce you really only get the sound of your own breath.  Which is interesting when you consider that with every breath that you exhale, in essence, you utter the name of the Almighty.   Which would explain why in my moments of greatest stress and fear if I will simply just breath, I’ll begin to feel peace, His peace settling over me and in me.

I don’t know what situation you find yourself in today.  But do this one thing for me, will ya?  Just breathe.  Stop what your doing right now, and take a big deep breath in and then let it go.  As you do, consider that you are speaking the very name of the one person who can do anything at all about your situation.  Invite Him into your chaos, your stress, your uncertainty, your fear.  Let Him bring His peace into your situation.    

The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Job 33:4