8 Quick Time-Outs for Your Soul

Use this spiritual first-aid kit for those times you need a quick lift.

When life seems overwhelming and you are worried or feeling frazzled, do you yearn for some kind of escape? Here are some ways to get through those unquiet times. Each two-minute activity includes an inspiring passage from Scripture for you to read, a personal devotion to reflect on, a prayer to recite, and a practical exercise for you to do.


When You Feel Like Complaining...

READ: Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
--1 Chronicles 16:34

REFLECT: One day my pastor asked me to pick up an eighty eight-year-old member who needed a ride to church from her nursing home. I dreaded the assignment because most of the elderly I knew were complainers.

But Ellen was different. As we drove to church, she told me how thankful she felt that she could walk with a cane. On our next trip, I discovered she played the piano for eight religious services at the home. She confided she was blind in one eye, but praised God for excellent vision in the other.

I introduced Ellen to some church shut-ins; her attitude was contagious. "Be thankful for what you have," she would say, "and what you don't have won't bother you so much."

Soon it was clear to me: complaining has less to do with age than with attitude. --Sam Justice

PRAY: All too often, my focus is on what I don't have, Lord. Please forgive me and help me to focus on and be grateful for what I do have.

DO: Ask your spouse or a friend if he/she sees you as a "half-full" or "half-empty" person. Give him/her permission to point out times when you're focusing on what you don't have instead of the good things in your life.

When You Feel That You've Failed...

READ: Each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.
--1 Corinthians 7:7

REFLECT: Winston Churchill flunked qualifying exams three consecutive years when trying to enter Sandhurst, the military institution. In particular, he could not seem to grasp Latin, which is astonishing when one reads the books of this masterly practitioner of the English language. But then, Thomas Edison was once at the bottom of his class, Albert Einstein flunked math and was called "mentally slow," and Henry Ford was written off by one teacher as "a student who shows no promise."

Each of us has special God-given gifts, but sometimes we speak disparagingly of our gifts, viewing them as inferior to others' gifts.

Using the gift God has given you may be the portal through which you must pass before new opportunities are revealed. Performing your present duties well could be the key to finding an exciting new spiritual dimension in your life. --Fred Bauer

PRAY: Father, I've been guilty of coveting the gifts You've given others while disparaging the ones You've given me. Help me know what You've created me to do and give me opportunities to do it.

DO: Pick a talent you haven't developed or have left behind. Look for a class to take or a group to join that will help you renew that interest and develop that skill.

When You're Feeling Down...

READ: Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful... --1 Kings 21:7

REFLECT: My new friend Anne invited me to a get-together in her home. My husband was away on an extended business trip. Feeling down, I didn't want to go out. But Anne insisted.

It was a wonderful party! Someone played the piano and we sang. Everyone seemed friendly and I began to feel better. Anne's warmth toward all of us had permeated the house.

Later, as we were getting our coats to leave, I noticed on a table a photograph of a beautiful little blonde-haired girl.

"That's Anne's child who was killed in an auto accident almost twenty years ago," said one of the women next to me. "Anne has this annual get-together on the anniversary of her daughter's death to cheer up others and to forget about her own loss."

Suddenly, I felt small. My "problem" had made me want to withdraw. Anne, in her loss, was reaching out to others. --Marion Bond West

PRAY: I praise and celebrate You today, Lord, in spite of my aching heart.

DO: Turn a day of sadness into a celebration that will bless others.

When You're Feeling Frazzled...

READ: If there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things. --Philippians 4:8

REFLECT: Just out of a hospital, on furlough from World War II, I took a rowboat out on a glacial lake in Switzerland. I rowed far from the shore, brought in the oars, laid myself down under the seat and just drifted for hours.

The only sight I saw was the blue, almost cloudless sky. The only sounds I heard were the gentle slappings of water against the hull and the tinkling of cowbells from the mountainsides that cradled the lake. God was giving me a tiny hint of what peace in heaven is like.

Today, when life's pace gets too frantic, I draw upon the memory of that time and that place. I use it to calm myself-to bless and heal.

You have memories like this too. Stop now. This instant. Choose one that still moves you. Relive it intensely. See, hear, smell, taste...remember! --Manuel Almada

PRAY: Thank You, Father, for this great idea. I remember when _________________.

DO: After you've relived a memory for a few moments, resolve to follow the advice above in Philippians 4:8 every day: think about excellent and praiseworthy things.

When You're Feeling Stuck in Your Job...

READ: The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
--Lamentations 3:25

REFLECT: In 1962, when I was working as an aircraft engine tester, I was working the night shift. The plant was noisy, and the work was grimy and greasy. During those hours I dreamed of being a technical writer. I took classes, studied hard, and went on a lot of interviews. After each interview, I returned to the roaring engines, the oily parts, and the night shift.

My wife Ruby sensed my disappointment and said, "Try not to worry. God may have a plan." So I worked and studied, and I prayed that God would help me handle my impatience. Finally, in June 1968, I was hired as a technical writer. After one week on the job, I knew why so much time had elapsed. I was writing about aircraft engines, and without those six years in the plant I wouldn't have known how to begin. Now I understood.

Yes, prayer-and patience-makes the difference. --Oscar Greene

PRAY: Thank You, Father, for the grace to keep doing, joyfully and patiently, what You've called me to do until You tell me to do something different. I believe You have a plan; please don't let my impatience mess it up.

DO: Think of three positive things you're gaining by being in the job you are in for as long as you've been there.

When You're Struggling with a Problem...

READ: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding...
--Proverbs 3:5

REFLECT: Years ago I was struggling with a particularly stubborn problem. I'd prayed about it feverishly for several weeks, begging, pleading, but without any results. Then one evening I walked outside to get the paper and found my son Paul, who was a toddler then, trying to pull open the petals on a tightly closed rosebud. He looked up at me wide-eyed and said, "Paul make pretty flower bloom."

As I heard myself explaining to him that you can't make a flower bloom by pulling on it, something clicked inside of me. I had been handling my problem the way Paul had handled the rose! By begging, pleading, trying to force an answer, I had been trying to manipulate God. I needed to take my hands off, wait patiently, and trust in the creative power of God to open up a right answer for me. When the answer did come, it was not what I had expected. It was better.
--Marilyn Morgan King

PRAY: Father, forgive me for trying to help You answer my prayers, and thank You for answering them better than I could have imagined.

DO: Picture the best possible result you can imagine for the problem with which you've been struggling. Write it down. Now, make a choice to let it go and trust God with it. When His answer comes, write it down and compare your answer with His.

When You're Thinking Negative Thoughts About Someone...

READ: Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. --Luke 6:36

REFLECT: Through the years, I've struggled with a critical attitude. I confessed this to a close friend who admitted she faces the same struggle but has found a helpful solution. "I turn every criticism into a prayer of intercession for the other person. That not only helps me stop when I start being critical, it turns a negative thought into a positive action."

"Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's gift of Himself," I once heard Mother Teresa say. I'm learning that "God's gift of Himself" squeezes most of the contempt and criticism out of my heart. --Carol Kuykendall

PRAY: Lord, forgive my critical attitude toward __________ and help me to see the positive qualities You've put within him/her.

DO: Put that person at the top of your prayer list for the month.

When You're Worried...

READ: "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"
--Mark 9:24

REFLECT: Once, my husband left on a trip to Japan only days after a tragic plane crash had shocked the world and other terrorist threats of more plane bombings had been looming. As the monitor in the airport lounge flashed "Departed" next to his flight number, my stomach began to tighten. It would be fourteen hours before he would be on the ground again, and I was in for a real worry marathon.

Then a prayer came to me: "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." I kept repeating these words to myself, until the din of fearful "what-ifs" was replaced by feelings of calmness and confidence in the Lord. My husband returned safely, of course, but more than that, my faith was steady once again. That's not to say that faith insulates us from life's sorrows or tragedies. But always, we can believe in Him Who carries us through anything. --Stephanie Oda

PRAY: I do want to trust You more, Lord. Please help me overcome my unbelief.

DO: Play the "what-if" game, but this time, replace all the bad things with good ones.

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