Grounded And God-breathed

Grounded and God-Breathed

The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.

Genesis 2:7

In 1994, I attended my first writers’ conference. While there I met a godly woman named Ethel Herr. Ethel spoke with a soft voice, but there was bright passion in her eyes. “Your life makes your words worthwhile,” she urged us. I knew what mattered most wasn’t how I crafted my words on paper but how I lived—how I let God live within my dusty frame.

Ethel passed away some time ago, but her memory fuels me, and her words live on:

O Great I AM

fix the gentle imprint

of Your perfectly contoured feet

into the moist gray sands

of my earthy being

that all who pass my way

may marvel

at the excellence of Your work of art.

In spiritual terms, the word inspiration means “breath of God.” When we allow God to breathe into our lives by His Spirit, everything will change—our words, our works, our wonder. One of the principles of Amish belief is humility, and realizing who God is and who we are is the only thing that can bring us to a humble state.

According to Dictionary.com the word humble comes from the Latin word humilis, which means lowly, insignificant, on the ground. Man was dirt—insignificant—until God’s breath entered him. And only when God breathes into us and walks with us can we be both grounded and works of art.

“The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life,” we read in Job 33:4. So many times we take note of what the Amish reject. Instead, maybe we should consider what they embrace: humility and the breath of God.

Dear heavenly Father, breathe into me today. I am but dust, yet You chose to form me still. Because of Your breath I have life. Show me today how to live.