Breathing is something that most of us take for granted. I know that I did up until early November of 2017. Everything changed for me in what seemed like a blink of an eye.
It actually took a couple of weeks between being given a drug at the dentist (which was noted that I should never have) that caused bronchial spasms (along with aspirating water) for the pneumonia to take over and, when exposed to something I was allergic to, a severe allergic reaction to shut down and damage my lungs. I went from having good lungs to having advanced lung disease. Currently, I’m battling a second onset of pneumonia, this time caused by cottonwood pollen and perhaps soy and wheat, we’re not completely sure.
We’re still trying to work out a way for me to get around and somehow wean off oxygen but in the meantime, I am extremely thankful that both 24/7 and portable oxygen units are available for my use. While today has been challenging so far for me, I know that God has a plan for me and I will be following where he leads.
God breathed the breath of life into his creation, Adam. With that breath, the history of mankind was born. Can you image how beautiful and fantastic those first times were? The world made completely perfect, so perfect there was no need for rain. The ecosystem allowed plants and animals and man to grow and flourish.
The only problem was that Adam needed his mate. God created Eve from Adam. I’ve wondered why Adam was made from the elements but Eve from Adam. I’ve wondered if the entire history of perfect genetic code was in Adam and by separating Eve from him, the code was then available to both and thus every person since has been a derivative of the perfection that was made originally.
The setting was idyllic, the company superb. Can you image walking with God in the garden? Everything was available to them and Adam had been put in charge of the whole world.
There was just one rule. A small one. Simply, do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If they did, they would certainly die.
Adam and Eve were just like us, given free-will. Where they were different is that they were spiritually alive and communed with God. Even so, the temptation to break the one rule proved too much. With their sin of disobedience, death entered the world. Spiritual death was immediate and passed through to all generations. Physical death also came to be. God himself had to sacrifice animals to make clothes for his creation man to cover their nakedness.
Ever since, it seems like mankind has been trying to find a way live and flourish without having God be part of it. According to C.S. Lewis “All that we call human history – money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery – is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.”
There has been one great exception and that is the history which is told in the Bible. According to Paul, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” 2 Timothy 3:16.
The Bible is the revelation of God’s plan: the creation, the fall, how to live before a just God and, finally, the redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ. Just as God breathed the breath of life into us, he also breathed the breath of new life into the Scriptures. It is his love story to us. It tells us how and where we began and how and where we will be in eternity.
When faced with issues, I pray and I seek God in his Word. There is no issue too big for God to handle nor too small for God to have overlooked. His answer is complete.
God choose a nation to record his history. He created them from a single man, Abraham, who walked with God. It isn’t that the Israelites didn’t also try to turn from God time and time again; the Bible tells us over and over how they wanted to turn back to Egypt or had stopped listening to God and fell victim to conquerors. It’s that they turned back to God when things went wrong. And God was good and just and loving and forgave them and helped them.
Because of his great love, he sent his Son to save the human race from their sins. Without Jesus, we would all have been lost forever. The Old Testament is the history that shows the need for a savior and which also contains his redemptive promise and the prophesies which told us how to recognize the Savior when he appeared.
The New Testament is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, his directions for life everlasting, the actions which began his church, the studies which give us instructions for our daily life and, finally, the view of what eternity with Jesus as King will be like.
All of this because God so loved us; he did not want to have eternity without us.
He is as just and good and loving today. He wants to forgive you, he already has. He wants to help you.
If you, like me, are facing issues today. Whether they are physical like mine, emotional or spiritual, now is the time to ask God for help. Sometimes we don’t know what we are burdened by. For Christians, the Holy Spirit knows and can translate your groans to prayers to God for what you need. For non-Christians, seeking God is a good thing. Ask him to reveal himself through the saving power of Jesus Christ. Ask for help with your problems as well.
The answer is there, in prayer and in the Bible. The thing is, we often think we know what the answer should be, only to discover we were totally wrong. Because we want something doesn’t mean that it is what is good and right for us. What is good and right is what God will provide.
As you breathe today, think about where the wonderful breath of life originally began. Think of all the beauty and perfection that will one day reign. Know that those who will be there will be there because they made the free-will choice to accept Jesus and to follow him. According to the psalmist, Psalms 150:6, Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.
For me, when I have days where I am struggling with breath, I know that one day I will breathe easily again. That hope and certainty allows me to look beyond the here and now. Eternity awaits and I hope to see you in heaven with me. With this breathe and with my last, I say, Praise the Lord.
Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.