4 minute read
By Bethany Rees

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m exercising to lose weight. To see me exercise would make for a good comedy show because I’m not very coordinated. When I do my workout videos, sometimes I’m so stiff and slow that the exercise move is over before I have finished even getting into the proper position to start with. 

However, the number one thing I notice about myself when I exercise is that I forget to breathe. That is until I’m red-faced, coughing, and gasping for air. If I would just remember to breathe throughout the entire movement, I wouldn’t be so out of breath and energy the whole time. 

Just like my performance when exercising, I often forget to make time and space for breathing throughout my day and honestly, my life. I work fast and furious to accomplish tasks on my never-ending To-Do list and move on to the next thing. 

Are you the same way? Are you so busy “doing life” that you forget to make space to breathe? 

Running my life at a fast pace and making no room to breathe eventually takes its toll on my body, my performance, and even my relationships. And if you’re like me, I have a feeling that you experience this “toll” as well. 

You and I shouldn’t feel like we have to keep up with the “hustle” culture of American society. We are free to pick and choose what our time, attention, and affection goes to. By golly, if we want to create space to catch our breath, then we can do just that. 

But the problem is that you and I, well… we often don’t. 

We might say we do when we scroll social media or binge watch TV...but that’s not taking a breath mentally. Movies and reels usually make us long for things we don’t have or compare our lives/bodies/relationships to what is being projected on the screen. 

We don’t usually allow ourselves to truly stop our minds and bodies to literally breathe in deeply and to breathe out the toxins that have filled us. 

God created us to breathe in (take in) all that He is and to breathe out (release) all that is not from Him. 

Dear friend, no matter the hustle and bustle you are experiencing in your season of life, choose to take time to stop and be still before the Lord. Lock yourself in a bathroom if you need to, but remove yourself from the expectations of the world around you and just be. Be quiet. Be still. And Breathe!

Breathe in!

Breathe out!

Breathe in!

Breath out!

Breathe in the goodness of God!

Breathe out the expectations of the world!

AAAAWWWWEEEE!

Keep breathing, friend! 

Know Better. Do Better. Live Better. BREATHE!

Rocks before Sand!

P.S.

By the time you are reading this, I will be sitting still…breathing…at an all-women’s retreat with my good friend and retreat host, Rachel D. Baker. If you have found yourself in a season where you can’t seem to catch your breath, give Rachel’s podcast a listen; she focuses on helping women “Create Some Breathing Room.”

Scripture: 

“Slow down. Take a deep breath. What’s the hurry? Why wear yourself out? Just what are you after anyway? But you say, ‘I can’t help it. I’m addicted to alien gods. I can’t quit.”

~ Jeremiah 2:25 The MSG

Theme Song: 

Breathe - Hillsong Worship (Lyrics)

References Used:

Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson