Holding our Breath

The other day I was having coffee with a good friend and mentor, and she told me that lately she feels like she is constantly absorbing more: people’s struggles, their asks, and the steady stream of things to do. She’s realised that what she seeks is to begin to release more —her creative expression, her spiritual gifts, her joy and Godly passion—all things of which I know she has an abundance. Yet I also know what it’s like to be so burdened with a continuous inflow of responsibilities that you have no time to tap into your true, inner calling.

This is especially true of Christian women. We all want to be the Proverbs 31 woman, “She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come…she watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness” (Proverbs 31: 25,27). However, too often we make the mistake of living out this verse by being constantly busy. Yet there is a difference between being busy, and being productive, especially when it comes to God’s kingdom.

Out of Breath

As we spoke, I immediately recalled something I learnt from a woman who coached me in my running four years ago. When I used to run uphill stretches, I would generally find myself gasping for air and panting, thinking I just needed more oxygen. This is a common body response because when carbon dioxide levels rise, it triggers the urge to breathe faster so we can clear it out and bring in more oxygen. However, what I learnt was that I needed to go against the instinct to breathe faster and instead force the carbon dioxide out through long and steady exhales. As soon as you do this, you will find that your heartbeat will slow down and your breathing will regulate, allowing you to inhale more oxygen in a steady rhythm.

Sometimes in life, I find myself out of breath. When this happens, I know the answer is more of God, but because I’m trudging through a swamp of busyness, I end up trying to squeeze Him in — I read a bite size devotion sitting in my inbox, I try to attend another church meeting, or I listen to worship music while cooking or driving— but it’s hardly replenishing me in the fullness of His presence.

Breathing out: making room for the new

“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.” Luke 5:37 – 38 NIV

While Jesus was referring to His new covenant replacing the strict religious ways of the Pharisees, we can also interpret this passage for our current, daily lives. We need to renew our spirits by pushing out the old. Like using new wine skins to pour in new wine, the key is pushing the old air out, so that the fullness of God’s “oxygen” can be absorbed. Yet, what is the carbon dioxide in our lives — the things we need to release to make space for new breath?

We discussed this in a women’s group I attend, and I’d like to list just a few examples of what was shared:

• Old thoughts: One of the ladies expressed how she has always believed she’s not creative, but as my friend pointed out, we are all made in His image as creative beings, which can include the little things in life — not just artwork in galleries or written books. Her “carbon dioxide” is the incorrect belief that she is not creative, but with God’s new “oxygen”, she is discovering how she is already creative and can be even more so.
• Wasted time: For many of us in the room, we confessed to being perpetual scrollers on social media. At the end of the day, exhausted and seeking mild entertainment safe in our shells, we lie down and disappear into the social media time warp, where “just five” minutes morphs into two hours, which often means going to bed too late. As one wise woman among us shared, the real discipline isn’t in waking up early to meet with God — it’s in going to bed on time.
• Prideful Habits: I realised that one reason why my to-do pile keeps growing and blocking the things I should do, is not asking for help, even from my own husband. I’ll instead battle forward alone trying to juggle everything and then end up feeling resentful. Because let’s be honest — I’m not the long-suffering servant quietly carrying the world on her shoulders; I’m more like a trumpet of showy huffs and puffs. This is because my reason for “doing everything”, has more to do with pride than it does joyful selflessness.
• Hurt: One of the younger ladies who attended spoke of purging negative thoughts. As Christians we are rightly taught to take captive negative thoughts, and “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say.” All very true. But sometimes we take this to extremes when we are not even honest with ourselves let alone God, and so past hurts and bitterness fester within us. Sometimes it’s necessary to ‘purge’ of negative feelings by expressing it through journaling or through counsel with a trusted friend.

Breathing in: the replenishing infilling

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Mark 1:35 NIV

Jesus models what we need to be doing to experience true relationship with him and the Father. In merely reading this scripture, the longing of my soul is roused by its promise of peace and replenishment. Time with our father needs to be an extended pause. We need a deep inhale of His truth, filling us with the peace of His presence, quietening the hustle of our minds so that we can feel and hear the heart He has for us. Ignited by His spirit, we are more connected to His purpose and we can take on tasks guided by His wisdom and calling on our lives.

“I have filled him with the Spirit of God… to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.” Exodus 31:3–5 NIV

When we breathe in the oxygen of God, not only are we more attuned to His deep love and purpose for us, but He awakens cells within our spiritual body, stirring them into motion, to collide and unite and become vessels for creative thoughts. As we established earlier, we are creative in everything, not only in music, artwork and books. In daily chores we are creative as we create order in our personal admin and household. We are creative in our conversations, as we create new ideas together. We are creative in our thoughts, as we envision a better way for things to be. In all these things the oxygen He provides is our inspiration for the daily creations as well as the larger creative projects, because His essence is creator and we were made in His image: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 NIV).

The Calm Exhale

Once we have cleared our lungs of the excess ‘carbon dioxide’ and drawn a deeper breath of God’s ‘oxygen’, we can exhale with greater calm and ease the things He is wanting us to release into the world. We release creativity to build. We release encouragement to our neighbours. We release joy and testimony to the quiet onlookers on the side. We release ourselves in the way that God is wanting us to be released. We release His light.

Where do we start?

I ask this question without holding an answer. We all walk very different lives and therefore we all have different ways of finding our breathing rhythm. For me, my starting point was to envision what breathing rhythm looks like in my life, and from there, I started listing the things — the excess ‘carbon dioxide’ —that needs to be exhaled from my life in order for me to inhale more of God’s ‘oxygen’.

What is your starting point?

Angela Chiaberta

I am a volunteer blogger with a passion for God and writing. My hope is to help others choose faith – or to walk deeper in their faith – through my own introspections and observations.

The post The Oxygen of God appeared first on Cup of Faith.

From Gentle Streams to Roaring Seas

I once overheard a friend of mine say something so moving to her daughter while on a walk with my own daughter and me. We were all standing among the lush vegetation of a secret green hollow in our neighbourhood which overhung an unseen stream, and she said, “Listen to the water. God speaks to us through the water.”

This resonated with me deeply. When I reflect on my own moments of intimacy with God, they have often occurred in spaces of proximity to the sound of water in some form or another, whether it be listening to the rain while journaling, walking alongside streams on residential greenbelts or sitting on the beach watching and hearing the crashing waves; there is something about the purity of water that inspires prayer and thoughts of God for me, which is in line with scripture as He even describes Himself as ‘the spring of living water.’ (Jeremiah 2:13 NIV).

The other day during my quiet time, I let the thought of water meander long and far, drawing what felt like a truly appropriate portrait of God’s character and how He relates to us. It struck me that as water takes on so many different forms, so does God; just as water is a still and gentle stream as well as a wild and vast ocean, so God is both a whisper of peace and our refuge, as well as a thunderous all-consuming power. To have complete relationship with our Father, we can’t experience Him in one form only. We need to allow ourselves to flow with the current of His will lest we lose out on the full renewal and power that relationship with Him offers.

Gentle Streams: Meeting God in Quiet

‘He leads me beside quiet waters…’ (Psalm 23: 2 NIV).

Jesus said to the woman at the well that whoever drinks the water he gives will never thirst again (John 4: 13-14). I don’t know if you have ever drunk directly from a mountain stream, but my experience of it was that I had never tasted something so wholly invigorating, it certainly felt like it was a thirst-quench with longevity. The first year of my walk in faith was one of the most deeply enriching and meaningful years of my life. I spent so much time on my own with God, sitting, walking and talking with Him, that I truly felt that if I was the only human alive on earth, I would be perfectly content, because I had Him.

Nurturing my personal relationship with God is therefore a big priority in my life, for unless I can experience God alone, I cannot know His deep love for me the individual, as His child and as a small piece of His creation. It is knowledge and constantly reminding myself of this love that fills me, fuels me, and makes me instrumental to the kingdom, because being filled with His love means I can overflow with love, giving to others that love that I have received from the source of all love.

Experiencing the peace of personal intimacy with God means that I am often tempted to avoid community; I have a strong desire to live my spiritual life in private with God alongside the quiet waters. But I know this is not His will for my life. Water naturally flows towards the sea, and so long as that water is constantly moving, it will continue to flow with life and vibrancy. If it collects and becomes stagnant, it loses its vitality and can become a breeding ground for bacteria and other elements that make it unsafe to consume. This is like our relationship with God and therefore our faith when we refuse to flow with the current of His will; we too will become stagnant, and like all stagnant water, we will find that the water is no longer life- giving and may become a breeding ground for unwanted sin.

As we become strengthened by drinking from the quiet stream of our personal relationship with God, we need to surrender to His will as the natural current of water flows towards the sea.

Roaring Seas: Meeting God in Power

The sea is where we encounter God in power, which can be a symbol for corporate worship and community. We cannot belong to His kingdom without being in His kingdom with our fellow believers.

When we pray for each other and lay hands on one another, we see God move. We see God’s justice and mercy demonstrated through outreach ministries, uplifting communities and being a sanctuary for those who live on the fringes of society. We see love displayed through relationship and close counsel, doing life with one another. Alongside this, though we are saints, we are saints being sanctified which means sometimes repressed sin is being brought to the surface and clashing with sin in other believers. But in times of adversity in church, we also see God’s redeeming hand bringing about conciliation and healing.

In these ways, God’s reflection through fellowship is very much like the sea; just as the sea can be turbulent and windswept, it can be perfectly orchestrated and powerful in the majestic waves rising and falling in perfect formation and rhythm.

There is no such thing as a perfect church, and my church is no different. But one vital aspect of my church keeps me firmly rooted in its community, and that is the presence of the Holy Spirit. I often used to think that you need to prime yourself before going to church if you want to experience the presence of God, but there have been times when I’ve arrived at church with a very distracted mindset, either it’s been a rushed morning or I’ve simply been distant from God throughout the week, but in spite of this, I have felt showered by the Holy Spirit merely by being present in the gathering of strong believers. Someone speaks a prayer over the congregation or a powerful moment of worship surges through the room, and I feel the rippling of His divine presence across the entire surface of my body and soul. That’s power in His presence, and it’s made possible through the corporate fellowship and gathering of the Saints.

Where the River meets the Sea

Returning to my quiet time when I reflected on this comparison of God and water, I was sitting just by a small estuary, perfectly positioned to hear both the distant roar of the sea as well as the gentle trickle of the estuary. These two contrasting sounds were existing in harmony with one another, and every so often, the gentle methodical trickle was overlaid by the gentle swoosh of a larger wave reaching its final stretch. Just as the estuary feeds into the sea, so the sea washes over the estuary and fills its banks, giving it more movement and energy.

How similar it is to how we live in community; just as we become part of the fellowship and so feed the kingdom, we are also fed by the kingdom when we need renewed energy. It is a symbiotic relationship, in which at times we will be flowing more powerfully into the kingdom, and other times, the kingdom will be overflowing to us, and it is all living in the fullness of God and His purpose for our lives.

Let us Pray:

Father God, thank you for how you reveal to yourself to us in all forms. Please help us to experience the fullness of your character and love and live a balanced life in personal relationship with you and community. For those of us who want to live hidden away in relationship with you alone, gives us obedience and boldness to serve in community. For those of us who are too busy actively engaging in church and activities that we forget to connect with you alone, please draw us away to a quiet place with you. In Jesus name, Amen.

Angela Chiaberta

I am a volunteer blogger with a passion for God and writing. My hope is to help others choose faith – or to walk deeper in their faith – through my own introspections and observations.

The post Meeting God in Quiet and in Power appeared first on Cup of Faith.