Pump it UP!

I went to the Lake with my girlfriends this weekend. We bought big, colorful inner tubes, seven to be exact. Three of us brought pumps: two hand pumps and one electric pump that plugged into the car. Fancy.

We stood in line to pump up our inner tubes so we could do what 40+ year old women do in a lake or pool. Float.

I filled up two tubes with the electric pump. It took a long time. It took so long to see progress that it made you question if it was working. But then all of a sudden you start to see this inner tube fill. You see it rise.

I stood there watching as a completely invisible substance filled this tube up until it was tight, plump, and ready to HOLD us.

And of course, I started having profound thoughts about how amazing this scientific phenomenon is.

All around us, we are swimming in this invisible, see-through, weightless, life-giving substance. Just walking around in it all day.

Then at times we use it to fill our car tires, to ride a bike, to kick a soccer ball, to shoot hoops, to fill a balloon, to fly, to float in a lake, to inflate our lungs, and breathe.

Without it we die, with it we live.

Without it there is chaos and disorder; with it we are grounded and things are in place.

The truth of life, I believe, always aligns with the truth of the spiritual life. Because Truth is Truth.

So when things are said like,

“…and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your LIFE.” Duet 30:20

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created…He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Col 1:17

“When Christ, who is your LIFE, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Col 3:4

“For in Him we live and move and have our being.” Act 17:28

As I watch this amazingly powerful, invisible, immortal, never-ending, life-giving, sustaining, unexplainable force fill up a container in front of my eyes, consider what this same amazing force can do when I allow it to fill me.

Fill me, from my head to my toes.

Sustain me, sustain my life.

“I will be the same until your old age and will bear you up until you are gray. I have made you, and I will carry you. I will sustain you….Cast your care on me, and I will sustain you. Surely I will help; I am the ONE who sustains. I hold all things together.”

(Is 46:4, Ps 55:22, Ps 54:4, Col 1:17)

The science meets the spiritual, and the Truth is the Truth. And the beauty of the mystery remains, and we can stand in wonder and awe at the “power” that gives us LIFE.

My dear, this is what I want for you: I want you to see today as you breathe, as the wind whips through your hair, as you get in your car and put on your air conditioner, as you watch birds fly, and water ripple, that there is something mighty, unexplainable, invisible, immortal, and beautiful sustaining your life.

Your lungs are filled right now with the breath of heaven; you are a magnificent creation; you are being held together; you are being sustained and carried right now.

You are here. You are important. You have life and breathe today. You are a masterpiece, a Priceless gift to those around you, so live, my dear, live.

From My Heart to Yours