Even though at the moment air travel might seem a distant memory in this time of Covid 19, most of us have heard the advice on every flight we have ever taken. Along with other safety information the instruction comes to advise us that if the airplane gets into difficulty, we must first fit our own oxygen mask before helping others. At the moment of birth, a baby must suck in that first breath of oxygen into their little lungs to live. Oxygen is vital for human existence. We cannot live without air. We suffocate.
This advice, along with the other safety info goes in, but I probably didn’t think about the importance of this advice until recently. In this time of Covid, the uncertainty, stress and fear it has caused can cause us to run out of breath. Its’ time to put on that oxygen mask. The reason we needed the oxygen mask in the first place is to ensure our own air supply so that we can ‘breathe’ whilst helping others. If we think of their need as being more urgent, we may run out of breath and die before helping them. We are no good empty of breath and lifeless.
As a Christian, this time has been challenging. Yes my faith is strong, but people I love, family members and others are now facing trauma which causes them to loose their breath. We try to stay afloat like a life saver holding them up so they don’t drown, but because we haven’t ensured our own air supply, we go under also. We cannot give from an empty well or depleted lungs. We need to fill up and show them how to fill theirs also. We also need to remind them to fit their own oxygen mask every day so they too can help others.
To put it simply, every morning I put on my own oxygen mask. I fill up my tank with time in God’s word, prayer, devotionals, intercession, praise and worship. I plug into fellowship with God. That air mask descends from the ceiling and I breathe it in. I take in the oxygen of God, his very life and energy. He restores my soul, mends my wounds, fills up my tank and reminds me to check in with him constantly throughout the day to make sure my safety gear is all on.
Some of my loved ones are experiencing some rough flights. Issues of injustice, intimidation and threats, often fuelled by lies and misinformation are hurled through the skies. So we breathe in God’s love, his power and his justice. We speak with authority from the very breath of God into situations which seem overwhelming. The word of God is used as a mighty weapon to topple the giants of injustice and send them away defeated. God’s word is truth. When breathed on by the Holy Spirit it ignites into a fireball of power. His weapons of justice equip us for every battle. He breathes his life and power into us to use for every situation and circumstance. ‘Pneuma’ is the Greek word for the breath of God. The very breath he breathed in Adam is the breath he breathes into us. Without it we suffocate and die. The Holy Spirit is his breath breathed into the word of God giving it life to feed us.
I wish I could say we are going to fly off into serene blue skies, but none of us know that at the moment. But God “God, the Lord, created the heavens and stretched them out. He created the earth and everything in it. He gives breath to everyone, life to everyone who walks the earth. “ Isaiah 42:5 NLT is an eternal promise. Although your bones of faith may feel desiccated and dry, attach the oxygen mask of God once again as described in Ezekial “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’” Ezekiel 37:5-6 NLT I say this morning DRY BONES LIVE !
So, advice from an old warrior who has survived many a battle and will always offer advice on the ways to equip yourself for war. Fill your own cup first, put on your own oxygen mask so the very breath of God will energise and empower you to help others. Fill yourself up and just breathe it in, then go off out into your day fully equipped to bless and encourage others. Breathe him in.
Thrive 