Text by Jenny Faith

Maybe you’ve skipped breakfast just so you can pack as much info into your head as possible before your exams start in an hour. You’re not done studying, so you flip through all your notes, study cards, formulae and diagrams to do as much last minute studying as possible. You look at your watch and you feel the anxiety building up in you.

Or maybe, you’ve entered the office to see a long list of immediate to-dos and your schedule for the day is back-to-back work meetings at different places. You rush through your lunch knowing that every minute you take propels you one more minute towards your deadline. You work at super fast speeds and rush from place to place in a hurry.

Or maybe, you just have so many problems in your mind from different areas of your life that you don’t know which to think about first, let alone solve or pray about.

You know the clock is ticking non-stop. You rush. You pant. You find your breath quickening. During moments like these, you feel that you can hardly catch your breath.

How many of you have been in situations like these at least once in your life?

Well, I have. And just today, in fact! ‘I can hardly catch my breath’ is a common phrase we hear when placed in such situations. But thank God that He even has an answer to that! I was in the midst of my hustle and bustle in the afternoon when I received a timely SMS from a dear friend. It read, “Hey Jenny, read Psalm 23 if you can today, okay? ”

Having a sole spare minute in the midst of my hectic day (yes, I was that busy), I thought, Hey, why not read it now?

Feeling led to read Psalm 23 in The Message version, this verse leapt out at me, much to my amazement, especially while in the midst of a busy and hectic workday:

“True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.” Psalm 23:3 (The Message)

Wow! God lets us catch our breath! Not only that, He even sends us in the right direction! Not only was the verse so apt for my situation, it’s also such an applicable verse to our fast-paced society today! This just goes to show that the Word of God is always relevant and relatable to every situation, circumstance or point we may be in our lives. Simply because God knows everything we are going through and will go through.

The Word of God is indeed the truth and life.

So, right at the point of reading that verse, I felt a REST envelop me as I literally caught my breath! I then realised that I had lost sight, for a while, that God is always in control. No amount of rushing is going to make things better.

So why not rest and know that Jesus is with us, and let Him work through us and lead us in our studies, work, or problems? Ask Him what to do, how to do it and which to do first! Jesus is our wisdom. Go with His flow and rest! With that, we can be efficient and effective while having rest and peace abiding in us.

If we put our trust IN Him and we find the rest IN Him, the rest and peace IN us FROM Him will not be shaken or affected by external circumstances. Jesus is always constant; He is the same yesterday, today and forever! Praise God!

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” - Genesis 7:2 (NKJV)

God created us with His breath of life! So come on friend, when the going gets tough, or when the world seems too fast for you, or when you don’t have the answers to your problems now, don’t panic. Don’t be afraid. Remember that He has given us the peace.

Take a breather! Jesus is always with you. Turn your eyes away from your anxiety or circumstances and look to Jesus. Breathe in Jesus! Be conscious of Him and know that He lets you catch your breath and sends you in the right direction.

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” - John 14:27 (NKJV)

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