by Tiffany Kinerson on March 28, 2025
Every night for a month, I walked figure-eights in the dark, trying to quiet the pain. Out of nowhere, I had felt like someone was ripping my shoulder out of its socket. It was brutal, all-encompassing pain, and I had no idea what was happening or why. I fought hard to solve the problem. I went to chiropractors, massage therapists, muscle activation specialists, naturopaths, acupuncturists…. I tried homeopathy, strength training, Ibuprofen, rest, doctors, physical therapists…. I even started a private Pilates class!
Soon, my calendar was packed with so many appointments focused on healing that I was running out of time to actually get anything done. My energy was zapped. My relationship with my husband was at that fine line where we merely helped each other co-exist. I had trouble talking about anything other than pain. I was praying of course: for the pain to go away, for God to help me do the things I needed in spite of the pain and fatigue, for solution after solution. Nothing worked and nothing helped. I was spinning and spinning with no direction and no strategy.
I wonder if you’ve experienced a situation like this. Maybe it wasn’t physical pain, like mine. Maybe it was a relationship issue at your workplace—that one person who seems to always tear you down. Maybe it was a child who is walking far from how you’ve raised him, and you so very much want him to know God’s love; it’s just the other voices are so loud in his head. Maybe it’s a financial situation. You did the best you could at the time, but now the money need is overwhelming, and you don’t know where to turn. It’s tough to not spin and spin, walking your own figure-eights in the dark of night, mumbling any prayer you can think of as you endure it all.
I Peter 4:7 reads, “…be of sound judgement and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.” (The emphasis is mine.) This verse tells me there is a different, almost deeper prayer I need to reach for in my times of crisis. If I need to have tapped into things like “sound judgment” and a “sober spirit”, then it means there must be a moment when I shut out all the distractions, all the pain, all the hurt, all the hopelessness, and I get still. Somehow, I have to say, “Quiet!” to all of that so that I can pray the prayer that would be most effective in the situation.
The problem is once a person is in deep crisis, how on earth can she have the wherewithal to do that? In Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools, Tyler Staton introduces a practice I have found pivotal in not only my moments of crisis but also in my everyday walk with Christ. Basically, it goes like this: with two feet on the ground and two hands palms-up on your lap, you pray to God, “I’m here, and I’m listening.” You don’t say anything else. You just sit. “I’m here, and I’m listening.” Then you allow your body and your mind to settle as you practice tuning in to God. “I’m here, and I’m listening.”
At first you might be able to do it for 90 seconds. You can even set a timer if your mind is particularly crazy, and you’ve (like me!) had issues with overthinking and getting more distracted about the amount of time so far. Maybe, after a while of doing that, you find yourself able to do this for 10 minutes without a timer. Maybe you stick with quick little bouts of stillness. But the point is, don’t judge yourself. Don’t sit around considering if the practice “is working.” Just still yourself in a posture of surrender, waiting on God. Practicing the art of listening.
A miraculous thing can happen once we find ourselves in the presence of “sound judgment” and a “sober spirit” handed to us by God. Soon, we begin to see a light. The circle of chaos surrounding the day breaks open into an answer. We find professionals who can help, or the relationship turns from a grid lock into a smoothly, flowing highway. Sometimes the situation doesn’t change at all, but we change. We can learn how to be more clever within the relationship, or we find a new habit that boosts the numbers in our bank accounts.
When I put on the brakes to listen in the midst of the pain I mentioned, first I discovered the cause of the pain: a pinched nerve! Then, I maintained my stillness and focused on the effective asks. I watched in awe as the impractical appointments on my calendar fell away—one of the businesses closed, one of them suddenly hiked up their prices to an unreasonable amount, one of them I simply realized was not helping at all, so I dropped it. Now, here I am, one year later, happy to toot my pain-free horn. I still maintain some of the options in my toolbelt should problems arise again. But I’m no longer spinning and pacing. I’m not overscheduled and busy with my fight. Best of all: I’m no longer writhing in pain on the floor! God showed me the perfect solution for my situation at that particular time. Because I waited on His guidance. I waited to find the strategic move.
I’m not saying all situations will get to end in the sort of shining-smile testimony I share with you today. But I do know that we serve a big God who loves us very much, and He knows that often the answer is right in front of our faces. Sometimes the answer will change the situation; sometimes it will change us in spite of the situation. But in order to see it, we need to figure out how to quiet ourselves to feel His hands direct our faces to the light.
No matter what you face today, think: what if you stopped and took a moment of quiet, a moment where you set everything aside and simply listened for God? How do you think it could change your habits? How could it alter your mindset? What do you think could happen in the midst of all your busyness if you stopped just for a moment and waited on God?
