I will be the first to admit that bad moods happen, especially when I find myself tired, frustrated or anxious. But what if, as Philippians 2:5 (NASB) says, we can, “”Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”?
Is it possible to submit a bad mood to God’s peace? In my new book, The Stress Cure, Praying Your Way to Personal Peace, I share a story about a time I met all the bad-mood qualifications as listed above. I was tired, frustrated and anxious, but God intervened. Here’s how it happened.
It had been a long trip, and after my plane had landed at Denver International Airport, I’d made it through baggage claim and had caught the crowded shuttle to off-airport parking. Once safely in my seat, I took a deep breath, readying myself for my dive into my bucket purse to retrieve my keys and a tip for the driver.
But as I searched the dark cavern, shoveling the contents this way and that, I could not find my keys.
I felt a bead of sweat pop out on my forehead. I was 40 miles from the house, and my husband was off riding his Harley with his Christian motorcycle friends. He wouldn’t be available to rescue me until late that night. I felt my eyebrows knit together. I was in a pickle.
I looked up from my search to see that for the first time in history, my car would be the very first shuttle stop in the parking lot. I shot off a quiet prayer. “What do I do, Lord?”
I felt the peace of his presence. “Trust me,” He seemed to whisper.
With the other passengers staring at me, I said, “My keys seem to be missing.”
The driver said, “Maybe you left them on the shuttle when you parked. I’ll call the office to see if anyone turned them in. What do they look like?”
My cheeks suddenly felt hot. “Uh, the keychain is a plastic square with a book cover on it.”
The woman next to me said, “You’re an author?”
I gave her a sheepish nod. “What’s the title?” the driver asked.
This time I laughed, “Well, it’s When You Don’t Know What to Pray.”
“Sounds like you’d better do a little praying now,” the woman suggested.
“I’m on it,” I said with a grin.
The driver dropped off the other passengers, but I was still fumbling in my purse when the driver drove back to my car. “Maybe we’ll be able to see your keys through the window.”
Good idea, only they weren’t there.
I reboarded the van and kidded with the driver as he drove me to the office so I could do a purse dump and maybe try to call for a ride home.
Once in the office, with the entire contents of my purse piled high on the table, I stared into the deep, black hole of my purse. My keys weren’t there, and I shook my purse to prove it. Was that a jingle I heard?
I carefully ran my hand against the interior walls of the purse until I discovered a huge hole in the lining of a zippered pocket. When I pushed my fingers through the hole, I touched my keys!
I happily boarded the van again, and the driver took me back to my car. He said. “You’re not like most who lose their keys around here.”
“What do you mean?”
“You were laughing and cracking jokes, but my last lady was crying hard.”
“Oh, no!”
“One man was furious. But it wasn’t that he lost his keys; he lost his Lexus. He had me and the manager drive him up and down the rows searching for it for hours. Just before he called the cops, he decided to call home. That’s when his wife reminded him he’d driven the station wagon.”
So what had made my attitude different than the other unfortunate travelers with missing keys and cars? It was that I’d called out to God and felt his presence. In that moment, He’d asked me to trust him. That gave me permission to relax regardless of my difficulty.
If you’re ready to de-stress from a bad mood, or at least learn how to pray when a bad mood strikes, pray the following:
Dear Lord,
Shine your light of truth over my bad attitudes as I yield them to you. I choose to forgive anyone I’ve blamed for my bad moods, even myself. I forgive through your power and now cast my bad attitudes at the foot of the cross. Heal me from the pain my own bad attitudes have caused. I yield to your peace and choose to trust you.
In Jesus’ name, Amen. {eoa}
Linda Evans Shepherd is a nationally known Christian speaker and a best-selling author of over 30 books. She’s the president of Right to the Heart Ministries, founder of the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA) and the founder of GodTest.com. Her latest book is Winning Your Daily Spiritual Battles.
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