Take a Deep Breath

Take a Deep Breath

Sarah P.
“Praise the LORD! I will thank the LORD with all my heart as I meet with His godly people. How amazing are the deeds of the LORD! All who delight in Him should ponder them. Everything He does reveals His glory and majesty. His righteousness never fails. He causes us to remember His wonderful works. How gracious and merciful is our LORD!” -Psalms 4-111:1 NLT
I’m a fan of a Christian band known as The Afters. I want to start off today by introducing some lyrics from their song “Breathe In Breathe Out,” which is one of my favorites. It goes like this:
“[I] Always think tomorrow will be better
There will come a day when I arrive
The list of everything I’ve gotta do would be a page of empty lines
I apologize…for living in the future…
Cause if happiness if always down the road, then I’m missing it today.”
How often do we live in the future? We get so caught up in our next class, our next assignment, our next meeting, our next meal, our next everything, when life is lived not in the future but in the present moment. Sometimes we just need to slow down, take a deep breath, and thank God for the amazing things around us. In this psalm, David chooses to focus on God’s greatness and glory for a few minutes out of his busy day- and he was the king of Israel! Surely we can set aside time for God in our days as well!
As teens, we tend to focus on the future. We tend to think our lives will “get better” or we’ll “arrive” when we turn eighteen, or get our driver’s license, or graduate, or start college. Yet we need to focus on appreciating what we have right now. Planning for the future is good, but we can’t get so caught up in it that we forget to be thankful for what we have. Today, that is my challenge to you: slow down, take a deep breath, and thank God for something in your life. It doesn’t have to be difficult; maybe you’re just thankful for Christmas lights, or your sweet dog, or chocolate. You might be surprised at how many things you can come up with! The point is that gratitude helps us focus on the One who gives us our lives instead of what’s down the road from here.
What are you thankful for today?