Guard Your Breath, Guard Your Spirit
A mosquito expert once explained that what really draws mosquitoes isn’t just your skin or your blood—it’s your breath. Carbon dioxide is what wakes them up and sends them swarming. To prove it, he put his hand inside a box filled with thousands of mosquitoes. At first, nothing happened. But the moment he spoke and breathed into the box, they attacked at full force.
Here’s the wild part: mosquitoes can detect carbon dioxide from over 150 feet away. The more you exhale, the more attractive you become. The more you speak, the more they latch on.
And that’s a word.
When You Speak, Attacks Wake Up
The enemy works the same way. He’s drawn to the breath of your life—the prayers, the declarations, the dreams you speak out loud. And just like those mosquitoes, some people are too. They lie low until you open your mouth about what GOD gave you. Then, suddenly, they swarm with doubt, sarcasm, or “concern” that cuts deep.
The Itch of Words
A mosquito bite starts tiny. Then it swells. Sometimes it even leaves a scar. Words can do the same. Negative words itch at your spirit, and if you replay them long enough, they grow into something bigger.
Proverbs 18:21 reminds us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” If you know who you are in GOD, those words don’t linger as long. But if you’re not rooted, they can fester until you start believing lies that were never yours to carry.
Protecting Your Spirit
Just like you’d reach for cream to soothe a mosquito bite, you have to reach for GOD’s truth to soothe your soul. His Word is the antidote. And sometimes, the wisdom is in cutting people off who only speak poison over your plans.
Critiquing someone else’s purpose doesn’t give them more value. It just exposes what’s unsettled inside of them. Protecting yourself from those kinds of voices isn’t petty—it’s necessary.
Silent Bites, Lasting Marks
The thing about mosquitoes is you don’t always feel the bite in the moment. The sting shows up after. That’s why it’s so important to guard where you breathe your dreams. Not every ear is meant to hear them.
Cover your plans in prayer before you share them. Surround yourself with voices that lift you up. And when the bites do come, heal them with the truth that you are chosen, covered, and called by GOD.
Mosquitoes can sense your breath from 150 feet away—and so can the enemy. Guard your breath. Guard your spirit. And only release your dreams where they can grow.