Psalm 33:6-9:
“By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And by the breath of His mouth all their host.
He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.”
“Marsha, breathe!” Those commanding words reached into my unconscious state as I lay in the recovery room after having had surgery. I have no memory of responding in the affirmative but must have done so as there was no panic in the room and I am here to tell the story!
The words were often repeated in my mind over the next few days as my body slowly began to return to normal rhythm. The question I asked myself was whether the words were uttered by the doctor or by the Lord. And what if I had responded, “No, thank you, but I don’t think I am ready to breathe quite yet.” One might say that would be taking matters into my own, pitiful hands. I wanted to believe it was the Lord’s voice I heard and that my immediate response was to obey.
Our verse in Psalms today says, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host.“ God Himself formed Adam from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Job testified, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.“ In John 20:22 we read that when the disciples were assembled Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The Lord Himself gave us life through His living breath, and He continues to breathe into our lives through His Holy Spirit. As the song says, “You are the air I breathe, Your Holy Spirit in me.” We can breathe in the very presence of God! So, in essence, the command to take a breath that day in the recovery room WAS from the Lord.
Just as the response to the command to take air into my lungs was automatic, how pleased the Lord would be if our obedient response to His commands would also be automatic, like breathing. Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will obey Me.” The surest evidence of our love for Christ is a sincere love that obeys out of a heart of gratitude. God not only loves his obedient children, but He takes pleasure in loving us. Therefore, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!“
Heavenly Father, we confess there are times when we think we know better than You, when our response is, “No thank you, Lord, I’m not ready for that yet.” Forgive our self-centeredness and disobedience. May our response always be automatic, like breathing, out of love for You. Today we pray for a renewed faith, and so we ask, O God, that you would breathe a freshness into us through Your Holy Spirit, and that we would inhale deeply to receive it. Breathe on us, breath of God. In Your loving name we ask. Amen.
