When we get anxious or panicked, how many times have we been told…”Just breathe”… or “Take a deep breath.” Breathing is one of those things our body does automatically. God created us with so many parts that work tirelessly and in harmony with each other. Our heart beats a rhythmic song, our blood circulates on it’s plotted course, and our cells act as building blocks and biological superheroes running everything from reproduction to fighting infections and repairing broken bones and so much more. We don’t even think about these functions and processes most of the time. We take them for granted and go our merry way… until. Until a time comes when something isn’t working the way we expect and it is brought to the forefront of our mind. Until we are inspired by the incredible intricacy of God’s beautiful creation.
King David wrote a beautiful Psalm of praise and thanksgiving to God as he considered both the goodness and wonder of God for choosing to create us.
You formed my innermost being, shaping my delicate inside and my intricate outside, and wove them all together in my mother’s womb. I thank You, God, for making me so mysteriously complex! Everything You do is marvelously breathtaking. It simply amazes me to think about it! How thoroughly You know me, Lord! You even formed every bone in my body when You created me in the secret place; carefully, skillfully You shaped me from nothing to something. You saw who You created me to be before I became me! Before I’d ever seen the light of day, the number of days You planned for me were already recorded in Your book. Every single moment You are thinking of me! How precious and wonderful to consider You cherish me constantly in Your every thought! O God, Your desires toward me are more than the grains of sand on every shore! When I awake each morning, You’re still with me.
Psalm 139:13-18 TPT
What a beautiful love song praising God and expressing how very detailed God is in His love for us. God created us for relationship. He made us to be His family. He considers us His children. He made us with intention. He created us from a heart filled with love, because God is love. It all started with Adam when God breathed into him His breath of life.
YAHWEH-God scooped up a lump of soil, sculpted a man, and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The man came alive—a living soul!
Genesis 2: 7 TPT
I learned something new and fascinating about our Heavenly Father and Creator God this week. I found out scholars and Rabbi’s who study the ancient texts and specifically the name of God believe His very name represents the sounds of breathing. God not only gave us His breath to give us life, He gave us a name for Him we utter with every breath we take.
This name, YHWH, often pronounced as Yahweh, is believed to originate in Exodus 3: 1-2 when Moses is on Mount Horeb and sees a burning bush. When he goes in closer to see why the bush doesn’t burn up, he encounters God personally. It is here God commissions Moses to go back to Egypt and set His people free. Moses asks God what His name is so he can tell His people if they ask. God tells him His name is Yahweh, I am that I am.
The name God gave is recorded in the original Hebrew as YHWH. There were no vowels in the ancient manuscripts. They were added later to make pronunciation easier. The “YH” is believed to symbolize inhaling and “WH” symbolize exhaling, the sounds of breathing. If you pronounce it without the added vowels, it sounds like breathing. This implies every breath we take is an unconscious utterance of God’s name, emphasizing His presence in our lives.
What a wondrous thought we breathe the name of God every time we take a breath. An average person takes about 20,000 breaths a day. While many things can affect a person’s respiratory rate, adults usually take between 12-20 breaths per minute, and children tend to breath faster. Let’s think about this a little more…
- A newborn baby’s first breath of life speaks the name of God.
- At death we leave this earth with our last breath, when God’s name is no longer filling our lungs.
- Even atheists and people of other religions who don’t believe in our Creator Heavenly Father breathe constant acknowledgment to God Almighty.
- A deep sigh, a gasp too heavy for words, calls God’s name.
- As we take a deep breath to gather our courage—we cry God’s name.
We speak the name of God constantly while we live. Have you ever just listened to the sound of your breathing in the quiet of the night? You are breathing the name of God! When our heart is so full we can’t even find any words… we breathe the name of God. In the deep groanings of grief and sorrow… we breathe the name of God! Sometimes we are so filled with joy we feel like our lungs might just burst… we breathe the name of God!
The Spirit of God made me what I am, the breath of God Almighty gave me life!
Job 33: 4 MSG
God’s breath not only gave us life, whatever we are doing every moment… sleeping, working, laughing, playing, we are breathing with the name of God on our lips. Breathing gives God praise even in life’s most difficult moments. Every one of us, always and everywhere are repeatedly saying God’s name. God gave himself a name we can’t help but speak every moment we live.
God gives us life in every breath because He is an intimate God who seeks to be invited and involved in every aspect of our life. He breathed into Adam the breath of Life and Holy Spirit is known as the wind and breath of God. When Jesus referenced the Exodus passage, He reveals to the Sadducees His Father is the “God of the Living” and all live in Him.
The Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are a relationship in motion, as creators and sustainers of Life in every moment, place, and being! Our Father, who is love, loves us as we are. Jesus died and paid the price to deliver us from ourselves. Holy Spirit teaches and tutors us in Their ways. They, all working together, bring us into the relationship They share with one another, and finally into Their Life! This is the ultimate circle of life.
Father, may we grasp how very much You love us today as You reveal yet another way You make Yourself known to us. As You continue to heal our hearts and our hurts, help us realize and remember You are as close as our very breath. You are always right here with outstretched arms ready to take our burdens and concerns if we would just surrender them to You and trust You. I thank You and praise You for this revelation. Please bless each heart that reads this and wrap them in Your peace. Help us all draw nearer to You and grow in our relationship with You. Please show us the path You want us to take and continue to guide our steps. Thank You. Amen.
I close with this beautiful blessing found in Psalm 119.
You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God.
You’re blessed when you follow His directions, doing your best to find Him.
That’s right—you don’t go off on your own; you walk straight along the road He set.
You, God, prescribed the right way to live; now You expect us to live it.
Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course You set;
Then I’d never have any regrets in comparing my life with Your counsel.
I thank You for speaking straight from Your heart; I learn the pattern of Your righteous ways.
I’m going to do what You tell me to do; don’t ever walk off and leave me.
Psalm 119:1-8 MSG
About Teri Miner
Teri’s dance with grief actually began over five years before she watched her beloved husband of almost 37 years take his last breath and enter Heaven’s door on October 6, 2019. A terminal degenerative neurological disease steadily and increasingly attacked nearly every major system of his body and transformed him from a vibrant, brilliant, strong and caring man to a bedfast invalid at the end. She was devoted to caring for him and doing her best to make the most of every minute they had left, to love him and pray for a miracle.
She thought she knew what her future held, but she had no idea. Losing him was the first time she experienced a close and personal loss. He was the love of her life. The onslaught of the pandemic with its reign of fear-mongering, forced isolation and separation entering the scene and disrupting or destroying whatever sense of “normal” that remained, just added insult to injury.
Her faith in God is the sustaining force keeping her fighting spirit to find and share hope in a bright future. Her heart’s desire is to walk beside her fellow widows toward a path of promise and healing. She wants to offer encouragement and hope so others can find the strength to take that next breath or next step. She recently started her own blog, https://widowwhispers.blogspot.com/, to share with other widows not only the struggles and hardships of widowhood, but the triumphs. Her hope is found in leaning on the Lord Jesus to enjoy a God inspired future anchored in expectation He will bring us to a fulfilling and meaningful life.