God Gives Breathing Room

He changes a wilderness into a pool of water And a dry land into springs of water; And there He makes the hungry to dwell, So that they may establish an inhabited city, And sow fields and plant vineyards, And gather a fruitful harvest...But He sets the needy securely on high away from affliction, And makes his families like a flock.---Psalm 107

There are seasons that life presses in upon you with such weight that you feel you can get no rest. Physically you may sleep but the days are filled with such emotional pressure that the sleep counts for nothing because the strain on mind and heart is so consuming. A different season may bring about a pressure that is intense but not overwhelming. Within a season there may be a period of unrest and turmoil as well.

Into these seasons God will often reach in and insert a parenthesis of rest. It will come in different forms. A friend will insist on a visit whereupon you leave the house on a mini-adventure with laughter and discussion ensuing. It may come in the form of church on Sunday or percolate up from hours watching a newly released film. You may be surprised to find that a day at work has distracted you from thoughts of the terror that is present at home. Or God may remove the trial or at least downsize it.

God has granted breathing room this week. Surprisingly on Easter I learned that my store director (the one that demanded at least one cup of coffee be brought to the staff meeting because he needed his coffee) was transferred to another store at the opposite end of the valley! He is being replaced by a director that I’ve worked with previously and get along with. Our car seems to be working and we’ve gone one-and-a-half weeks without a dead battery. The big issues remain but some of the significant ankle-biters are done away with.

Someone has said that God is never early but he’s never late. He promises that we will never be tested beyond what we are able to bear. Often the key to the bearing up under the pressures are those small interludes of rest smack dab in the middle of the chaos.