Honest Advent: Day 8

December 08, 2022, By: Jimmy Scruggs

Day 8: Breath

“I am the Alpha and the Omega – the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come – the Almighty One.” Revelation 1:8
How many times have you forgotten to breathe or take a breath? This is the one thing many of us forget to do when we find ourselves confused or stressed. Yet, breathing is essential and necessary for our well-being. If I had a penny for all those times someone has told me to breathe or take a breath, I’d share my great wealth with you.

So, breathing can be a welcoming or refreshing change. It is an interruption in time, a lull in the action or a pause that refreshes. How do we learn to breathe? God breathes life into all things. He is the breath of life, the air we breathe. From the day He gives it until the day He takes it away, breath is mostly an involuntary action over which we have no control.

Could it be that taking this breath that helps us to stop and center things as we step back for a moment is, in another sense, a spirit or animation that guides us to take a breath and breathe out fear and breathe in the presence of God? We learned that ruach is the word for breath in Hebrew and it is also the word for wind and Spirit. As we breathe lifegiving air, could it be a moment when God knows we need toremember Him and His Spirit gives us sustenance for what is ahead? God is in our very breath and is a respite in times of need.

Next time I take a breath, I will remember the many ways God cares for us. Maybe as I take a breath in stressful situations, I’ll remember God is the air I breatheand breathing is knowing God. (Job 12:10; Job 32:8)

—Jonna Pearson