Do we need a Time-Out?

A BIG welcome to those of you joining me from the Encouragement Cafe! It's a joy to be sharing there today. The story in the post ties in with the madness our family has been watching on TV; if you're not a basketball junkie like me - the college basketball tournament is going on and it's been full of excitement.

In my devotional, "Call A Time-Out" (you can read it HERE) I address something that is important in the game and life. There are times athletic teams and we as Christians need to press pause, listen to our coach and evaluate our plan. As an athlete it is sometimes vital to call time-out to simply calm nerves and see things correctly. As a mom, it is vital for me, in a moment of anger, to mentally take a time-out and pray for wisdom. I'm sure we can all think of times this would be helpful and if we're intentional today we'll have opportunities to put this into practice.

I knew this devotional would post this week, so I've been thinking and praying about the blog post I'd write to accompany it. Many things have crossed my mind...as I sat in church listening to our pastor I was wishing for a day long time-out so I could ponder, study and pray about the message I'd heard!

As I watched UNI's heartbreaking loss to Texas A and M I thought about time-outs a bit differently. That game grew interesting at the end and our Panthers were out of time-outs. Their lead was slipping away, an injury caused a change in the line-up and the opposing teams pressure created a stressful situation.

Friend, doesn't life sometimes feel this way...Satan chips away at our faith, circumstances change and life's pressure seems overwhelming. Thankfully, our time-out supply isn't numbered. We can go to God as often and as much as want. He is always there!

This made me think a bit more about the "Time-Out" idea...maybe that's really not what we need. What we ultimately and always need is a continual conversation with our Creator. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, "Pray without ceasing." Think about what this means! Pray simply means speaking with God, while without ceasing means to never come to an end. This is a command I struggle with, how about you?

Our pastor has been challenging us to close the gap...praying without ceasing is the goal, but it's not going to happen over night. Perhaps it starts with calling 5 time-outs today, 6 tomorrow and so on. Until we are constantly conversing with our heavenly coach. Can you imagine how different the game of life would look if we did that?

I'm guessing my kids wouldn't frustrate me, life wouldn't overwhelm and Satan wouldn't defeat me. If I obeyed this command to pray constantly, I'd be more likely to obey others as well. Constant communion with my Creator would lead to a life better lived for His glory.

Friend, if you're not use to calling a "Time-Out" during daily life, I pray you will consider it today. If you're one who does shoot out a quick prayer or two through the day, why not make it three or four? Simply put, don't stay where you're at...take a step closer to the goal and pray more! In doing so, you'll take a step closer to God and in the end that's really what we're after!!