Inhale, Exhale, Inhale

Last night, I had a thought, and then like a jigsaw puzzle in super-fast motion, a whole slew of pieces just fell into place. I was brushing my teeth, and I say that, because I remember I had just moved to my lower left molars when the thought came, it was that sudden. 2020 has a theme, and the theme is about breathing.

Covid rocked our world at the beginning of this year, attacking our respiratory systems. We've since learned that other symptoms come with it, but that was the primary symptom for a long time: "I can't breathe."

George Floyd died at the end of May, and his final words were: "I can't breathe." Whether that was from someone kneeling on him or from the massive overdose of drugs in his body or a mixture of those things - is beside the point: his words became the catch-phrase for the riots and protests beginning in June and still taking place across the country.

The western wildfires have burned millions of acres, destroyed homes, and killed people from Washington down to northern Mexico, with little abatement in sight yet, and the headlines over the last days have been a lot of messages with a solid point: "People are unable to breathe: air pollution extremely hazardous."

This morning, I read Ezekiel 37, the vision the Lord showed to Ezekiel of the valley of the dry bones. To summarize, Ezekiel saw a valley full of bones that had been dry (dead for a long time). He obeyed God and prophesied to the bones: "I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord."

And then as he was speaking, all the bones started to come together, connect, and the muscles and tendons covered them, and then skin... but no breath yet.

Ezekiel obeyed God again and prophesied to the breathless bodies: "Come from the four winds, oh breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live."

God told Ezekiel: the bones were Israel, their hope was gone, but the breath symbolized hope, return to their homes, return to their lives; the breath symbolized God's Spirit filling them up, living in them.
Putting these things all together, I'm suggesting this: I know this vision Ezekiel had was made for Israel, but I see parallels to current matters. We've been praying for revival nationwide. Revival is renewed life. Resurrection. The Lord is breathing into the church with His breath, bringing us back to life. 

Without air, our body dies. Without breath, our lungs stop working. The church, overall (not every church, certainly), has been complacent, apathetic, comfortable, oh so comfortable. I told someone recently: "I'm tired of Comfortable Christianity." It's like a disease. It blinds us to the urgency of the mission field God has laid before us. It blinds us, often, to our own faults and callings.

This is the song going through my head now: "This is the air I breathe..." 

Let's pray for breath - fresh infilling, inflowing air from the Spirit, revival, and a resurrected, renewed body of Christ.