It takes courage to breathe
when your lungs feel like glass,
when your heart feels like paper,
when your mind is like a thousand blades of grass
waiting for the wind to blow.

It takes surrender
to the God of Heaven and everything,
who can give you breath and help you sing,
who will heal the places you’re afraid to see,
and make the mountains in your life
climbable.

It takes courage to breathe
when the air around you is toxic
when the people in your life
tell you God is dead
or has run away.

It takes courage to stand
when you’re afraid you will waver,
and steps forward are only a dream.
How do you dare…
or risk being counted
as a believer,
a holder of his name?

But you can breathe,
and you can stand.
then even run.
God will be your security detail
for the journey.
You will climb up through the clouds,
where the doubters tell you not to go.
And they’ll call you a fool for climbing.

But God will meet you there
like He promised…
because you had
the faith to breathe,
the temerity to breathe,
the courage to breathe.

© Joel Tipple 10/8/2018