His name is Elijah. He was born in the midst of one of the hottest summers I have ever experienced. Shortly after 4:00 pm that day, Elijah experienced life for the very first time. He drew his first breath…he was born. He did fine for a while, though he did not cry as much as we would have liked him to, but as time went on he began to struggle. He began by moaning occasionally, and at times his tummy would pump up and down while breathing, and by the time he was three hours old he was grunting loudly, and his stomach would push out and cave in with every breath he took. It was a sad and alarming sight. There he was, born completely healthy, and yet he was now struggling just to breath. The nurses quickly took him to the nursery where he was placed in an oxygen dome where they could make sure he was getting the right level of oxygen that he needed. You see in the womb, he was used to one way of breathing, however after his birth he had a tough time transitioning into the new way to take in a breath. His respiratory rate was too high, and he was working too hard to keep himself going, and they were afraid he would just tire out…After several agonizing hours of not being able to even hold my little baby boy he was able to come off the oxygen gradually and began once again breathing on his own.
While praying and asking God to show me something through this difficult time, he reminded me of a friend of mine. A new believer. They had experienced a rebirth, drawn freely the breath of new life, and yet they were still struggling with some things that seemed so obviously against God’s will to me. They may have even known what to do, but not sure how or even why. They needed a little more help, some assistance in continuously living out God’s will for their lives. Someone to come along side and encourage, love and sometimes even explain. This also is a tough transition. I was also reminded of myself at this stage in my walk with God. I had my old ways of living imbedded in me so deep, that I would easily revert back without even realizing it at times. This can also be a sad and alarming sight. After a while it would even get hard to breath, knowing what I should do, but not knowing how to do it, or why I even should. It is so important to take the time to walk along side one another and be that support system that we so often need. To love one another and to be an encouragement and even saying to one another “It’s time to cry out” . To give the appropriate level of “oxygen” so that we don’t tire out…..and in time it will gradually get easier to breath the breath of new life.
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