Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:08] Welcome back to another edition of the weekday podcast. My name is Bobby McGraw, and I'm so privileged to get to partner with Pastor Chuck as we spend five minutes a day every single weekday offering encouragement to you. And we're honored that you take time to put us in your ears today and listen to us. Whether you're driving on a treadmill or wherever you are. I hope that today would offer a little bit of encouragement for you today. Well, if you've ever felt like life has knocked the wind out of you, either spiritually, emotionally, or maybe even physically, today's episode is especially for you. We're going to talk about how do you breathe again? So let me ask you if you ever had the wind knocked out of you? I remember the first time it happened to me as a kid. I was playing football with friends. I dove to make a catch, and I landed flat on my back. And for a solid 10 seconds, I. I could not breathe. I mean, nothing. And if you've ever been there, you know what that feels like. It's terrifying. I mean, you want to breathe, but you can't. And I think, spiritually speaking, a lot of us have actually felt this way. Life hits us hard. There's a loss, there's a disappointment, there's a season of stress. And then suddenly, it feels like the breath has been knocked out of your soul. You go through the motions. You show up, but spiritually, you're gasping for air.
[00:01:18] Where in Ezekiel 37, God shows the prophet a vision of a valley full of dry bones. There's no life. There's no movement. There's just stillness. And so God asks Ezekiel, can these bones live?
[00:01:33] Not only God knows, of course. But then God says something powerful. He says in Ezekiel 37, verse 5, I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. That word, breath, is the Hebrew word ruach, and it means wind. It means spirit. It means life.
[00:01:50] God isn't just giving oxygen. He's actually giving his presence. And that brings us to the big idea of today. That when life knocks the wind out of you, God offers the breath his spirit. He offers to breathe his spirit inside of you. And sometimes that starts with just the simple invitation. God, would you help me to breathe again? God, would you help me to breathe again? So what does that actually look like? I want to give you three practical steps to think about. One is to pause on purpose. We run hard, we grind, but healing often begins in the stillness. And so today, I would encourage you to create space. Today, even if it's just five minutes to stop and to simply breathe, to inhale slowly, to exhale slowly, and to pray. God, fill me with your breath. Again, pause on purpose. Number two, open his Word even when you don't feel like it. Now, you don't need a 60 minute Bible study. Just try reading Psalm 23 out loud. Let the words of scripture do the heavy lifting. God, breath is actually in his Word. And then number three, talk to someone who's walked with Jesus longer than you. Sometimes God's breath comes through wise counsel. A text, a coffee, a reminder that you are not alone. And so if today you feel dry and empty and you feel like you're faking it, don't be ashamed. You're not broken, you're just out of breath. And God doesn't shame the spiritually winded. He breathes life back into them. So right now, as you drive, as you work, as you rest, pause and pray and say, God, would you breathe into me again today?
[00:03:23] That's it for today's episode. Thanks for spending a few minutes with us. If this encouraged you, I would invite you to share it with a friend. And remember, God's breath brings life. You're not stuck. You're just one breath away from fresh air. And we'll see you back here tomorrow for another edition of the weekday podcast.
