Take A Deep Breath — A LifeWords Devotion

Lamentations 3:25-26

In times of threat, we can either come up with a knee jerk reaction or a more considered response. Agreed, in a life and death situation we might have to rely on adrenalin and just do what has to be done. But mostly, we have time to reflect. Our first response might not be the best one. We may have misunderstood the threat or we may be reacting inappropriately.

We are counselled in this passage to wait quietly on God. Not to panic. Not to rush into our own ways of getting through the problem. The Lord’s salvation may come in a different way to that which we envisage. We can be so consumed with panic and hurry that we will miss out on just what God wants us to do. So it might be best to disengage from the threat for a while to take a few deep breaths and get God’s perspective on it.

This is not procrastination: it is a prelude to positive action. It is a searching for a way forward, not a recipe for sitting back and doing nothing. In order to do what needs to be done we first need to determine just what does need to be done. To wait on the Lord is to remind ourselves that it ultimately depends on him not us. He has the wisdom not us. To do nothing right away might just be the best thing to do.

We let the heat go out of the crisis so that God can shed more light on it.

Blessings,