"Learning to Breathe Again" | Ps Christina Lowery | January 20, 2026

Have you ever found yourself gasping for air - not physically, but spiritually? That moment when life feels like climbing a mountain at 7,000 feet elevation when you're used to living at sea level? Every step forward requires monumental effort. Your lungs burn. Your legs shake. And locals breeze past you while you're doubled over, trying to catch your breath.

That's where many of us find ourselves spiritually. We're still showing up. We're still faithful. We still love Jesus. But we're running out of steam, straining to keep moving forward, desperately trying to catch our breath.

The Involuntary Act of Breathing

Here's something fascinating: breathing isn't something we think about. It's involuntary, automatic, natural. We don't consciously tell our lungs to expand and contract thousands of times a day. We just breathe.

Until we can't.

We only become aware of our breathing when it becomes difficult - when we're climbing that impossible mountain, when we're hit with tragedy, when crisis knocks the wind out of us, when we've been running the rat race at an unsustainable pace.

The same is true spiritually. We don't think about breathing in the breath of God, about Him giving us life and purpose, until the breathing becomes difficult. Until we're blindsided by something that leaves us gasping.

And here's the truth: God never intended for us to live in that breathless state. If you're constantly unable to breathe, it could kill you. So if you're in that place today - trying to catch your breath, wanting desperately to fill your lungs with the air of God but somehow unable to - remember this: it's okay to not be okay. It's just not okay to stay not okay.

Keep Being Filled

The Apostle Paul understood this struggle. In Ephesians 5:18, he writes something remarkable: "Don't be drunk with wine because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs amongst yourselves."

But here's what gets lost in translation: "be filled" isn't written as a one-time event. In the original Greek, it's in the present tense - a continual, ongoing action. Paul is saying, "Keep on being filled. Don't just get filled once on Sunday and think that's enough for the week."

This isn't about looking back on a spiritual moment from your past. It's about a posture you live from, day after day, moment by moment.

Even better? The Greek also indicates a passive state. We don't fill ourselves. We are being filled. We receive the filling. Paul isn't urging us to produce the Spirit - we can't manufacture God's presence. He's urging us to position ourselves where the Spirit fills us.

We don't produce; we position.

The Problem with Leaking

So what's the position? Worship. Worshiping Him in spirit and in truth with other believers. Positioning ourselves together, with one mind and one voice, to receive the life and breath of God.

But here's the challenge: even when we position ourselves to be filled, life drains us. Stress, discouragement, disappointment - they empty the tank. We leak.

Paul describes it beautifully in 2 Corinthians 4: "We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure."

We're fragile clay jars. Over time, we chip, we crack, we may even break. And we leak.

When the source runs dry in our lives, it's not because God has stopped flowing. It's because our own humanity is weak. Being weak means we leak.

When Surviving Replaces Abiding

Have you noticed what happens when you're startled or anxious? You inhale sharply and hold your breath. Your body tenses. Holding your breath is a natural survival response to threat.

But what does that look like spiritually?

We stop breathing spiritually when our main focus becomes surviving over abiding. When we're just trying to get through, to make it to the other side, we stop thinking about remaining in relationship with Jesus. We're in survival mode.

Jesus said it clearly in John 15: "Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me."

The word "abide" literally means to maintain an unbroken fellowship with someone. Jesus is saying: remain in constant, unbroken relationship with me - even in the storm, even in the pain, even when you're climbing an impossible mountain - and I will do the same for you.

A sure sign you've been holding your breath spiritually? When worship feels like duty instead of rest. When opening your Bible feels like checking off a list. When you believe in Jesus, know a lot about Jesus, and even serve Him regularly - but you can't remember the last time you were truly with Him.

Not side-by-side, staying busy. But face-to-face. Vulnerable. Where He can look at you and love you, and you can respond to His love.

The Gentle Leading

So how do we learn to breathe again?

The Holy Spirit restores life by leading gently, not pushing forcefully. Romans 8 tells us, "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God."

Led. Not driven.

Being driven sounds like: "I have to do this. I have to do it right. If I don't, He'll be mad."

Being led feels slower, calmer, clearer. The Holy Spirit leads His sons and daughters. He doesn't drive slaves.

He may stretch you - trust me, He will - but He will not suffocate you.

Waking Up to Presence

We don't miss God because He's silent. We miss Him because we're unaware that He's there.

Becoming aware of His presence is how we learn to breathe again.

The psalmist captures this beautifully in Psalm 139: "Is there any place I can go to avoid your spirit? If I climb to the sky, you're there. If I go underground, you're there... Even in the darkness, you're already there waiting."

This isn't just saying God is everywhere. It's saying there is nowhere you can go where God isn't already with you. He's not only in your worship and obedience. He's also in your fear, exhaustion, confusion, and doubt. He's not only in the places you want Him to see. He's also in the places you'd rather remain hidden.

And this changes everything.

Awareness doesn't grow when we try harder. Awareness grows when we stop hiding. We don't lose awareness because God leaves us. We lose awareness when we distract ourselves from what we don't want to be seen or what we don't want to feel.

Three Steps to Breathing Again

So how do we stay open so His breath, His life, His hope, and His purpose can flow into us?

Pause. Choose not to rush past God. Even right now, in this moment, the Holy Spirit is present. Don't get fidgety. Don't run. Pause and allow the Spirit to meet you.

Listen. Notice what the Spirit is stirring in you. Is He saying to lay something down? To trust? To come and find rest? Listen to what He's saying.

Surrender. Let go. Release control of the outcomes to Him. Open your clenched fists. Be open-handed before God.

Learning to breathe again can begin right now. God's Spirit is like a faucet that can't turn off. His presence is already flowing. You don't have to turn it on. You don't have to beg. It's already on. He's already here.

You just have to position yourself to receive living water, breath of life, hope and purpose.

So open yourself - physically, spiritually, emotionally. Receive His presence. Welcome the promise of His Spirit.

Because when you do, you'll discover something beautiful: He's been there all along, waiting in the hidden places, ready to help you breathe again.