Time for time-out

Having little ones (aka grandchildren) in the house has returned us to sometimes needing to “correct” misbehavior. With their parents’ okay we’re using “time out” as we did for their then-little dad (and his sister). Usually “time out” was enforced in the offender’s room (“on your bed, no books or toys!”) or isolation in a bare corner, the timer ticking typically for ten minutes. 

Sometimes I wish there was a way to enforce “time out” for misbehaving adult tongues. When I’ve been a victim of vile or angry words, verses from scripture throb with special meaning for me.  

Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools. (Ecclesiastes 7:9)

The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil. (Proverbs 15:28)

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. (James 1:19-20)

One day I answered the phone to a barrage of angry words. Remembering counsel regarding this person’s issues, I didn’t attempt to set the person straight. Instead, I thanked them for calling and hung up. Shaking and upset, I realized I needed a “God-time-out” for spiritual encouragement. Within seconds, this thought crossed my mind, “Take it to the Lord in prayer.”  I did—and later, thinking about that phrase, recalled how it came from a beloved hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”

Few realize that this tender hymn that almost didn’t reach publication.  Its author was Joseph Scriven, who immigrated from Ireland to Canada in the mid-1850s. His fiancé accidentally drowned the night before his wedding.  After that, he pursued an extremely frugal lifestyle of giving and serving. When his mother fell ill in far-off Dublin, he scribbled off a poem to encourage her. A friend chanced to see a copy on scratch paper at Scriven’s home. He was impressed, but Scriven just said with typical modesty, “The Lord and I did it between us.” It was later published in a small collection of poems, and set to music by a leading musician of the day. Well-known gospel musician Ira Sankey discovered the hymn in 1875 and included it in his own hymnbook. Scriven died himself of accidental drowning, like his fiancée, in 1886. The hymn’s text is inscribed on his gravestone in Port Hope, Ontario. I like the irony of his resting place!  I’m glad it’s “Hope,” not “Cape Disappointment,” as we have in my state where the Columbia empties into the Pacific Ocean.

It’s just like the Lord to take something so simple and use it to bring hope and power to a believer’s life! All its verses speak comfort, but for me, the third was especially poignant:

Are we weak and heavy laden, Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge—Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?  Take it to the Lord in prayer;
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee—Thou wilt find a solace there.