I remember sighs of relief when my teenagers arrived home, not realizing I’d been holding my breath.

Then there are the sighs when we’ve enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner, that lived up to all our expectations. Other sighs lean into feelings of anxiety, fear or sadness.

I find myself sighing a lot in these last weeks, of  working through grief.*      Webster’s defines a sigh as, “An often involuntary act . . . especially when expressing a feeling.”

The Cleveland Clinic says, “Sighing can be an efficient anxiety reducer at times. Some experts hypothesize that people in anxiety-provoking situations may sigh in order to gain temporary relief from distress.”

A sigh can also be a lament, that something is not right with our world. Job, in his distress after the tragic deaths of his children, destruction of his property and his own failing health, cries out, “For my sighing comes like my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water.” Job 3:24

The psalmist, asks God to, “Give ear to my words, O lord; give heed to my sighing.” Psalm 5:1

I admit to not paying much attention to sighing in the past. But, these last weeks have taught me to  recognize my  sighs as an emotional expression.

The apostle Paul was well acquainted with sighing and wrote encouraging words, to the small faith community in Rome, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” Romans 8:26

God hears out sighs, our silent grief, the groanings we have difficulty putting into words. God knows our pain, our heartaches, our worries compounded by loss. God understands our deep wounds and hears when we cry out.

God even recognizes a deep sigh for what it is, a cry for help . . . For healing in our brokenness . .  For wisdom to navigate the waters of distress and lead us through our wilderness times. God knows when our sigh is a plea for restoration and hope . . .  A Prayer for a time when all sighing and sorrow are put away.

“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Isaiah 35:10



*For Context, See Kindness Drips Through Tears