“Awake my soul to sing with your breath in me
I will worship
And you taught my feet to dance upon disappointment
And I, I will worship”
–Heroes by Amanda Cook-
As a kid, I can remember waiting for my dad after basketball practice. My friends and I were goofing off near a rather large ceramic pot that had several assorted plants in it. In the middle of horsing around, I lost my footing and fell back onto the planter. I began to panic because I couldn’t breathe. It was the first time I had the breath literally knocked out of me, but it was an experience I wouldn’t forget overnight. Needless to say, I stayed away from that corner of the room for some time.
I had the breath knocked out of me last week. In the span of a few short days I experienced a flurry of emotions spanning from unexplainable joy, to inexplicible sorrow.
Has life ever knocked the breath out of you?
Sunday as I walked into church, I felt like a ghost. The worship leader began to sing, the words were on the screen and I couldn’t breathe. I realized then and there this was the first time I had worshipped since earlier in the week.
How do you worship without breath? I’m still learning.
One of my favorite pieces of Scripture is found in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. While friends and family have offered so many wonderful pieces of Scripture, this has been my lifeline these last few days. “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Breath will come. The Lord will be your breath. He will be your breath when it hurts and breathe healing to your heart. He will be your breath when it stings and breathe comfort to your soul. He will be your breath when it gets hard and breathe peace to your mind. Breath by breath God will fill you with courage and strength. Before you know it, breathing becomes a little easier.
When your breath comes back to you, let it fuel you to worship. If I’m being totally transparent with you, it wasn’t until recently that I have been able to worship. Does that mean I’m cured? That I’m miraculously over my loss? Absolutely not, but like Paul says in 2 Corinthians, when I am weak, then I am strong.
For me, when I am weak, I will worship.
