I keep having a vision of myself. I’m swimming deep under water and every time I try to swim up and get some air, I discover there is a clear film (much like plastic wrap) covering the top and I can’t get out. Instead of panicking though, I just tell myself to breathe in the water. That sounds strange, doesn’t it? But I’ve been here before and I know if I breathe where I am, I’ll be breathing in the Holy Spirit.
When I first began to have this type of vision, years ago, I would see myself panicking in the water. Now, I have come to a calm place…
I can’t fully explain why I continually have visions of myself underwater and then needing air, but it seems indicative of the suffocation I feel because of our circumstances right now. Life can feel suffocating for all of us, at times.
It’s been so helpful to realize that I am never far from a breath. Holy Spirit lives within me, I have full time and unrestricted access.
Do you realize that you don’t have to be freed from circumstances to find relief? Relief lives inside of you. Take that in. Let it soak you through. Let the rain of this truth drench your weariness away.
God doesn’t have to remove us from the struggle for us to find relief.
We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler’s snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 124:7-8
You can learn how to find relief no matter what your season is and what it looks like. Our peace can’t be circumstantial. This is a skill. Learning to walk through life with peace is a learned and intentional behavior. Yes, we carry the Prince of Peace inside, but we still have to learn or re-learn what it is like to trust. Some of us were raised living in a family dynamic that went from one stress or trauma to the next and before we knew it that was what we felt was normal…making it hard to know how to function when there was no stress. Some people struggle to live peacefully because they are always worried about what might go wrong next.
You don’t have to live this way. You can learn peace. When you become better acquainted with the Prince of Peace, then you have access to Him and can allow Him to re-wire your brain. Our brains become trained. Years and years we spend with our minds being trained to respond in certain ways. Some of those ways are incorrect and must be relearned in order for us to become healthier.
Does this make sense?
God, I thank You for transforming my mind more every day. I trust You. Help me to live a life wrapped in peace. Let peace exude from me. Let me be so peaceful that others feel peace when they are around me. Take away my fear of calamity and instead help me to look toward the future with hope. I praise You, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
I lift up my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip- He Who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He Who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you- the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Psalm 121
365 Days in the Presence 