We all go through them… those times where nothing exciting seems to be happening in life. When day after day drifts by with nothing to look forward to in sight.

I’ve been through these stages too many times to recount; motivation is low, stress is high, and joy seems like a distant memory. Been there, done that. And it ain’t fun. But, over the years, with God’s help, I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks that have kick started me back into first gear, so that I felt as though I was moving forward, rather than spinning my wheels in a deep rut.

If you are nodding your head, thinking, “Yes, that’s me right now!” I pray that these 9 Ways to Get Unstuck When You’re In Survival Mode will be a reference that you can refer back to again and again.

1. Read the Word

I know this may seem like a cliché, but honestly, you can’t do yourself a greater favour! There literally is no replacement for infusing God’s life-giving, perspective-changing, stress-relieving words into your soul. And don’t just get up tomorrow morning and read Psalm 117 (the shortest Psalm :-)), delve into the Scriptures the next day too, and the next, and the next. Reading and meditating on God’s Word somehow dislodges our shipwrecked faith, sets the sails back up, and fuels the wind to get us in motion again. If you do nothing else on this list, at least do this! It’s foolproof.

2. Do One Big Thing and Two Small Things

Something I found to be most helpful in making me feel like I had some purpose in life during my ‘stuck’ periods has been to decide each day on one big thing and two small things that I wanted to accomplish. Obviously, my big thing of choice wouldn’t be inventing a cure for the Ebola Virus or writing a New York Times best selling novel. It could be something like:

• Reply to 5 emails;
• Grocery shop for the week. Or even more minute than that;
• Take a shower!

Pick just one big thing to do that is realistic and matches up to the level of stamina you can currently exert.

The next part is easy. Pick two little things that you can do. Perhaps to pay an online bill, or make your bed. A couple of little tasks that if you do those, you’ll feel as though you accomplished something of value.

Often when we’re in a kind of dead-zone in our lives, and we aren’t as fully functional as we would like to be, the tasks pile up, and they simply seem too insurmountable to take on when we see them listed on a to-do list! Having one big thing and two small things to do that you can tick off and feel good about is a really good and doable start.

3. Give Yourself Grace

Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re going through a difficult, trying time. Your rose coloured glasses are darkened and dulled, and your usual sharp edges seem blunt. That’s O.K. It happens to us all, and you don’t have to win the top performing mom or most cheerful wife award this week or this month. There’s no pressure. Take your time in letting this phase pass.

Your Holy and Sovereign Father in Heaven knows where you’re at, and He said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) So, let it be…

If God is giving you grace, maybe you can give *you* grace too :-).

Of course this doesn’t give you license to just throw in the towel, sit on the couch, and watch soap operas all day, but it does allow you to dwell on the perspective that as long as you are in need of God’s all-sufficient grace, you are in your ‘weakness’ state, and the greater your weakness (which may be pretty up there right now), the stronger His opportunity to show Himself in and through you! So give yourself the grace to be weak while He works.

4. Have Something to Look Forward To

I don’t know about you, but not having something to look forward to is enough to plummet me into the dumps pretty fast. Take a look at your calendar and choose something coming up that you can await in anticipation. It may be something as routine as your monthly potluck church lunch, or the upcoming weekend when your hubby is home and can help out more with the children, giving you a bit of a break. Just a little carrot drawing you to the next little reward goes a long way in sprucing life up a bit.

Of course, that’s not to say that you shouldn’t live in the present.

There are lessons and truths that God wants to teach you and instill into you today. Click To Tweet

Looking ahead and missing what God is doing right now is going to do you no favours. So be mindful of God’s work in your heart and circumstances, while also looking forward to a little blessing that He has for you in the near future.

5. Share With Someone

As believers, we are all called to carry one another’s burdens. If you don’t share your burdens with others, and give them something to carry, then you’re not doing your part in this commandment. When we’re feeling blah and blue, the last thing we often feel like is involving others. We think thoughts like, “They won’t understand.” “They’re too busy to worry about me. I don’t want to overload them.” Or “What’s the point. I wouldn’t even know how to describe this ‘stuck’ stage with them anyway.” Understandable.

The thing is, that the natural tendency when we’re stuck is to go into isolation mode. We feel as though we’re not at a stage that we can contribute anything to others anyway. We imagine the world going on gleefully without us, and we don’t want to be the killjoy to bring anyone down.

But you see, my dear friend, that you can’t go into island mode. Not now! This is exactly the time that you need people. You need the encouragement, the spurring on, the perspective that others can see but that you can’t at the moment. Reach out. Even if it’s to one or two people that you can trust. People you know will care and pray.

6. Get Enough Sleep

One of the very best proactive things we can do for ourselves is also the most effortless. Sleep! Click To Tweet

There is literally nothing in the physical world that can influence our mindset, our mood, and our mental stability as much as a good night’s sleep does.

This is definitely my downfall. I have found, sadly, that it’s a vicious cycle when I feel stuck. I go to bed too late (okay, way too late!), get up long before my body has completed its necessary rest, which spirals into the wrong start to the next day, and so it goes on…

So, for this cycle to be broken, we can break it into two actions that need to take place. Going to bed in the evenings and our morning routine. There are two resources I highly recommend for this process. The first is a 21 Day Go-To-Bed Challenge which is a fantastic and practical free course which is extremely helpful in kicking that staying-up-too-late-habit.

The second resource I highly recommend is by Crystal Paine and is called Make Over Your Mornings.

This is a wonderful and doable 14 day online course that includes a downloadable .pdf workbook and is designed to help you to start your days well. It’s worked wonders in my own life!

7. Read A Good Book

Besides reading the Good Book, a huge booster and blessing during this time is to read a good book. God can and does use the writings of our day by authors who have experienced and grown in the Lord in their fields to encourage, reassure, comfort and energize His children. Read books that transport you out of your current situation and challenge you to greatness in Him, to love of Him, and to holiness.

Ask a bookworm friend to recommend something to read that is God glorifying and inspiring. I have a couple of friends who whatever they’re reading, I know I need to get my hands on. I trust their judgment and sound choice of books.

I’d say that this step of reading a book that will be a catalyst in turning your eyes to the Lord, and your heart to His purposes is one of the most important steps to take in order to get unstuck when you’re in survival mode.

8. Examine Yourself

Believe it or not, you are actually growing! You’re learning. You’re alive and well, even though everything within you may be telling you the opposite is true. Like plants that go through times where there they have very little activity during dormant seasons, there are still processes going on under the surface, and of which much fruit comes when the time is right.

Remember that gorgeous encouragement from Ecclesiastes 3:11:

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Well, that includes you and your heart. You’re a work in progress, and accept this reminder that God isn’t finished with you yet. In fact, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6). Need I say more?

One additional question that is crucial to ask yourself when you’re feeling stuck is this, “Am I in some kind of sin?

Walking in sin can often lead to our Godly peace and passion coming to a halt. Click To Tweet

• Are you perhaps not obeying in something you know God is asking you to do, or stop doing?
• Have you sinfully wronged someone, yet you are proudly not asking for their (and God’s) forgiveness?
• Have you slipped into a sinful habit that you are not letting go of?

The Lord will lovingly point out where you veered off the road if you pray to ask Him and will be faithful and just to forgive you, cleansing you from all unrighteousness.

Ask yourself (and the Lord) some hard questions and recognize that God is indeed at work in and around you. At times He hides His Face (Job 34:29), but his loving gaze never leaves you.

9. Pray

And how can we leave prayer off this list?

If you’ve ever wrestled with the question of prayer, perhaps the thoughts of the 19th-century preacher R. A. Torrey can help. Among the reasons he gave for prayer are these:

• Because there is a devil, and prayer is a God-appointed way to resist Him.(James 4:7)
• Because prayer is God’s way for us to obtain what we need from Him (James 4:2).
• Because prayer is the means God has appointed for us to find “grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
• Because prayer with thanksgiving is God’s way for us to obtain freedom from anxiety and to receive “the peace of God” (Philippians 4:6-7).

I can’t improve on the words of this learned man. If you are struggling to pray during this time, and feel like your words are boomeranging off the ceiling, try one of these methods:

Pray out loud – some of my most memorable and precious prayer times over the past years have been when I’ve been alone in the car driving somewhere and just started talking to God, pouring my heart out, communing with Him. It feels awkward to start, but once you get going, you won’t be able to stop :-).

My second suggestion is to write your prayers out. If you have a journal that you are accustomed to keeping, that would be a good place, but even if you start a new notebook, and write to the Lord as you would a friend, it would be a great way to connect with Him. The Choose Gratitude: Blessings Journal is a wonderful place to start, too.

 

Lastly, but by no means least, I highly recommend a book written by one of my favourite authors, Don Whitney, Praying the Bible. Whitney shares a revolutionary way of praying that is so simple, but so profound! Your prayer life will never be the same after you read this book!

If you’d like to get a taster, Sign up for a free 5-day email course on praying the Bible at crossway.org/PraytheBible. You will thank me forever :-).

---

Whew! Well that was quite a manuscript, but my heart is filled with hope that it’ll help you!

You may want to check out Crystal Paine’s New York Times Best Selling book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode: 9 Simple Strategies to Stress Less, Sleep More, and Restore Your Passion for Life:

Important Note: I have yet to read this book, and the above points are based on my own experience, not Crystal’s highly recommended book.

Which of these steps are you going to start with to get unstuck? Do you have any additional pieces of advice for those who are feeling in a rut today? 

If you were blessed by this post, please consider supporting my site: