Breathing Room

About four years ago, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, after my primary care physician had discovered that my blood pressure numbers were unusually high during a routine physical.

It was kind of perplexing to me considering I had always been very active, and was even an athlete in my younger years, having played in organized sports leagues, and having continued to play in pick up games, and to work out regularly on my own as an adult.

This was a new normal that I was going to have to surrender to, accept, and most importantly do something about.

After having committed to taking the blood pressure medication on a consistent basis, my formerly high numbers began to come down and be regulated, which came as a great relief to myself and to those around me.

My sleep apnea however, still needed to be addressed, and I was sent to a facility to undergo a sleep study. The results were a bit alarming, as I was diagnosed with pretty much the worst grade of apnea one could have, and I began the long, and arduous process of trying to find the right CPAP machine, and pressure numbers to fit my specific needs.

During this same period of time, I continued to be reminded of my mortality, as I also tore my rotator cuff on my dominant hand side.

I went to physical therapy for about six months, and worked extremely hard to do everything the therapists were instructing me to do on a consistent basis. I made some significant progress, but it came extremely slowly, and anything but easily.

During the course of my recovery from this tear, I often had setbacks. I wondered how in the world, after having implemented all of the stretches, resistance, and strength building exercises, my body could be reinjured so easily, and by something so seemingly trivial, on such a regular basis.

Until, when talking to a nurse who was taking my vitals, she gave me a huge answer, and piece to this baffling puzzle.

She was gracious enough to explain to me that my sleep apnea had an awful lot to do with the setbacks I was having. This seemed counter intuitive to me.

She then further clarified that because of the lack of oxygenation that the apnea was causing, all of my body's systems has been slowed down and compromised, and my muscles were therefore not receiving the proper nutrients and revitalization that they otherwise would have. This then perpetuated the inflammation and calcification that my muscles were constantly experiencing, making them far more brittle, stiff, and susceptible to being reinjured.

A short while later it occurred to me what a perfect picture of the spiritual life this is.

The Holy Spirit, living inside of all of us who believe, brings vitally needed peace, comfort, sanity, and empowerment needed to regulary sustain our minds and emotions.

In one of the original Greek translations of scripture, the word used for spirit is pneuma.

You may recognize it, it's where we get the word pneumonia. It has to do with our breathing, and as much as our lungs and bodies vitally need oxygen, how much moreso do our spirits and our souls desperately need the refreshing grace, and peaceful power of The Holy Spirit, that allows our emotions to breathe!

We receive this power by grace through faith the very moment we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, but we nurture it, and allow it to grow as we commit ourselves to Prayer, spending time in the Lord's presence, reading and studying scripture, sitting under sound biblical preaching and teaching, and having mutual and edifying fellowship with other believers.

These annointed spiritual disciplines not only make us feel better, but they build up our "spiritual immune systems," and allow us to ward off the attempted "bacterial attacks" from the enemy of our soul, who constantly tries to use anxiety, worry fear, and the like, to infect us with doubt, and cause us to question whether God really does love us, and whether or not He'll really help us in the end.

We often also, Iike I did when trying to figure out why I was getting reinjured so much, don't see the connection between one of the systems of our body, being connected to the health of another.

This is also a great reflection of the spiritual life, as we worry and stress over legitimately important aspects of our lives, that are indeed necessities for us to accomplish, and take care of if we are to survive, but the ends rarely justify the means, as we find ourselves emotionally drained, and and mentally and physically warn out, only to have to get up again tomorrow and repeat the same process all over again.

But, God doesn't deny the importance of the issues of our lives. He only wants to continue to smash home and re-emphasize the importance of being filled with His spirit, to help empower us to walk with His Peace living inside us as we go THROUGH these things, that we might not only be blessed, but that we might also be a blessing to others, as living witnesses to the truth that His power can keep us in perfect peace, even in the midst of the storms of life!

Phillipians 4: 6-7 says it best:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

If that passage has helped you, Praise be to God! But if you find that at this phase of your development, those "pressure numbers" need to be increased to get you "breathing fully" in The Spirit, try Acts chapter 1 on for size!

"Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized wiath the Holy Spirit.”

If you remember, in John chapter 20, verse 22, "Jesus breathed on the disciples and said, Receive the gift of The Holy Spirit." So, the disciples already had The Holy Spirit living inside of them, as anyone who receives Christ as Savior and Lord does.

However, as Acts chapter 1 clearly indicates, Jesus Himself tells the disciples, after he has already given them the Holy Spirit, to "wait in Jerusalem for the Gift my Father has promised . . . for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

There you have it, right out of our Savior's mouth! These were TWO SEPARATE events, one coming before Jesus' death, and one coming after His resurrection.

There are clearly two distinctly different levels of the infilling, and indwelling of The Holy Spirit being mentioned here. It is possible to have the Holy Spirit living inside of you, but not be FILLED with Him.

So that of course begs the question, if The third person of the Trinity, The Holy Spirit Himself, the very life and essence of God, our empowerment and source of ease and comfort, in whose wings healing of all kinds can be found, is available to you in far greater supply, why wouldn't you want to be FILLED with Him!? Should be a no-brainer, right!?

It remains a mystery why anyone would say no to that question. The enemy of our souls remains busy disseminating false doctrine that such a filling isn't possible, when scripture clearly makes the distinction that it is. But yet, the wounded and fearful choose the way of pride and would rather deny that there is in fact a far greater hunger for more of Him in their souls, than to summon the humility and courage it takes to bare one's soul in vulnerability, renounce a former faulty belief system that you have built your life around, and not only say that you have faith, but to actually put your money where your mouth is and trust God for more!

If you feel in your heart that you're hungry and thirsty for more of God's Spirit, and you need relief in your weary emotions, don't be afraid, and don't hesitate to ask God to baptize you in The Holy Spirit!

If you pray and wait, as the disciples did, HE WILL do for you what He did for them!

My own testimony, and the testimonies of many others will abundantly confirm this.

God Bless you richly!

Yours in Christ,

- Neil David Vandenbergh