The Trouble With Holding My Breath

We've all heard the old adage, "Don't hold your breath" used to warn people from hoping too hard or waiting too long for something that isn't guaranteed. This bit of wisdom tells us that some quick fixes don't work for the long-term. Sure, we can hold our breath as we make a birthday wish, but holding our breath while giving birth is definitely not advised. Some things that are harmless in one context are toxic or dangerous in another.

The trouble with holding my breath is that the air that was once fresh turns toxic almost immediately. Instead of nourishing my body, it starts to poison me from the inside. When I grip tightly onto a desired outcome, whether it's a job, a house, vacation or any number of desires, that thing starts to decay in my grasp just as quickly. While it may be a good thing, beneficial even, if I hold tightly onto it, it too can poison me from the inside.

I've been holding my breath lately, feeling like breakthrough is just around the corner and envisioning a particular way for things to work out. Hope and excitement are good feelings, but just like I can't live, move, and thrive without breath, I can't hold-on for a specific outcome forever.

So how do I cling to hope without counting on a specific outcome? How do I breathe in and out, through the hope, the waiting and hopefully the realization of my dreams? I think God is in process of showing me how and it has to do with exchanging my stale breath with His, letting Him breathe into my dreams and blow them up bigger than I had ever foreseen.

Isaiah 61:3

"...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,

the oil of joy instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

To the naysayers, devils and demons that think I'm down for the count: Don't hold your breath.