Can't Catch A Breath

Over the past month, the old (by a few minutes) of our twins had two asthma attacks. She really hasn't had one in over three years. Her allergy and asthma medicine helped her breathe. About a month ago she got very quiet while we were entering a store and she walked over to my mom, pulled on her sleeve and said, "mommy I can't breathe". Of course my mom jumped into action and gave her the emergency inhaler. Its the one that they gave us a while ago when she first had trouble. It didn't seem to work, so we found ourselves in the emergency room.

After more inhalers and a steroid treatment, she was one, super hyper from the medicine, and two, she could finally breathe. It scared her that day, probably not as much as it scared her mom, dad and big sisters but she was scared. Then yesterday we found ourselves back in the doctors office because my little twin was having another asthma attack. I try to be sympathetic and understanding when this happens to her, but I honestly don't know what its like. I have had trouble breathing but no matter what, I've always been able to catch my breath. I know there are many kids out there facing the same issue all the time because they too have asthma.

It got me thinking about times in life where it felt like I couldn't breathe. I thought about, again, times of loss, when the world seems to be closing in. The light seems to be farther and farther away. The darkness of pain will swallow you whole faster than you can blink. Once one bad thing is happening its only fitting that more and more problems pile on top, until it literally feels like the world is on your shoulders. With the weight of all that pain, it becomes very difficult to catch a good breath.

Sorrow is not only an emotion, it can become a way of life and a way of thinking. Your heart becomes heavy and it seems that there will be no relief and no way out. You desperately want to get back to the light and be relieved of all the world's weight. However, how are we to do that when its our natural human tendency to stay in a pit of despair.

Bear with me for a second and think about it from an asthmatic child's point of view. Their chests get heavy and full of pressure. This would compare to our feeling that the weight of the world is on us. The child can't catch their breath and they are becoming very scared. This compares to adults trapped in darkness and thinking that there's no way out. We are gasping for relief just like the child is gasping for air.

So how do we get any relief, how are we brought back to the light? Well for a child with asthma, the world (created by God of course) has provided us with medicine that helps open the child's airways. The medicine can save their little lives. So what does that mean for us? We can't take breathing medicine to help relieve us. Well here's the good news, God can save us. When we can't breathe, He breathes for us. When it looks like we are being pulled into darkness, His hand reaches out to set us free and when it feels like the weight of the world is on our shoulders, He takes the world and carries it on His shoulders.

We can breathe because He helps us breathe when we can't seem to catch a breath. So fear not, if the world is on your shoulders and taking your breath away, call on the Lord because He will take the world off your shoulders and restore you.