Life and Breath and Everything

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind

life and breath and everything.

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for

‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your poets have said,

‘For we are indeed his offspring.'”

Acts 17:24-28 (English Standard Version – emphasis added)

Far too often, rather than approaching the Lord in a state of breathlessness, being fully caught up in the Wonder and Awe of who He is and what He has done, it seems that we find ourselves approaching Him just plain out of breath. Begging for the energy to go on.

Maybe it’s just me?

But if the Lord gives us – to ALL mankind – life and breath and everything, if the Lord is not far from us, if we are the Lord’s offspring, if in the Lord we have our very being.

Then perhaps our seemingly-too-frequent experiences with spiritual exhaustion and burnout are reflective of moments in which we’re not seeking God, in which we’re not feeling our way toward him, in which we’re not depending on His power, in which we’re not resting in His peace, in which we’re not allowing Him to be our everything.

He’s placed us here. He’s hoping to be found. He’s actually not far.