The Breath Of The Almighty
Sometimes I can’t, I just cannot get a good breath!
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and it’s the truth. I cannot breathe the way I used to and maybe sometimes you even hear it in my voice – times when I struggle a bit? Sound a bit gravelly? It’s like my chest gets tight, and try as I may, I simply cannot pull in enough air to speak forcefully. Now, I used to get embarrassed when it would happen like, when I was speaking from a big platform, like at a big conference. I mean, picture it. There I am in front of, what, several thousand people sharing my story when, well, I run out of breath. I glance at my watch; I realize I’ve got 20 more minutes in front of these people before I’m finished! Now, I used to get embarrassed, and I would almost panic. Like, I’m a speaker, God’s given me a message to share. But how can that happen if I can’t breathe well enough? That was several years ago.
But now when it happens, I don’t get anxious; don’t get embarrassed. I just tell those 3,500 people to wait a minute, and then I call my husband up from the front row to the platform and … “Please, Ken, would you? Yeah, bring in a Kleenex. Come on up here.” And then he gets behind me, and in front of all these people he squeezes my abdomen; helps me cough; clear my throat. I can tell I’m making people in the audience very nervous. He pushes on my middle a few seconds to help me draw in air, and then, he goes back to his seat, and I leaned into the microphone, and I laughed, and I explained to everybody that, “You know what? I am my own best audio-visual aid of my message; the message that weak people need to lean hard on others and on God!” And at that, everyone relaxes and laughs because they get the point. We all need God.
It was driven home to me just about a year ago when I was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension. Nearly 53 years of quadriplegia has made my lungs pretty weak; they don’t function like they used to. And so, last year I was driven to need the Lord Jesus even more desperately. I needed Him for every breath. And so do you. It says in Job 33, the breath of the Almighty gives us life. And then in Acts 17: “… He gives all [people] life and breath.” And there are so many more verses just like these. Each one teaching us how utterly dependent we are on Jesus for every breath. You can’t get more basic, more fundamental than that. So, when 3,500, maybe 4,000 people watch my husband pound on my chest and push my abdomen? They, too, are reminded of their own weakness and how we must all lay aside worry, fear and embarrassment and simply confess our need of each other and the Lord. What a wonderful witness it is to people who forget how fundamentally we depend on the God of the Bible.
Just recently I received an email from Kathy, a respiratory therapist, and she thanked me for showing to her patients that, hey, you might have shortness of breath; you might have to pull behind you an oxygen tank, but God has more than enough grace to help you smile even through that. It’s just one of many lessons the Lord wants to teach us in our weakness. And there are other insights in a free mini-book I’d like to send you today, my gift, called “Lessons From a Hospital Bed,” written by John Piper. And it’s an excellent resource to give to a neighbor or a family member who is under treatment for breathing problems, maybe emphysema, or COPD, or like me, pulmonary hypertension. So, ask for your free copy of “Lessons From a Hospital Bed” today at joniradio.org. It says in Job 33, the breath of the Almighty today gives you life.
Oh, and one more thing. I want to send you a copy of our Joni and Friends newsletter. So, just go to joniradio.org
© Joni and Friends
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Lessons From A Hospital Bed
Sickness is hard. The combination of physical discomfort, emotional stress, anxious thoughts, and long stretches of boredom can make it difficult to remember – much less rely on and rejoice in – our good and sovereign God. Reflecting on ten lessons he learned while recovering in the hospital, John Piper encourages those struggling with illness to fight for faith by focusing on the promises of God, the truth of the Gospel, and the reality of eternity.
