My connecting flight had been late, so I was the last to board my flight home. I’d had to run from Gate A4 to Gate B15, so by the time I flopped into my seat, I could hardly breathe. I quickly fastened my seatbelt, and we were off. The woman sitting beside me asked if I’d like a piece of gum, and before I could answer, she started to laugh.
“Is my hair all over the place?” I asked.
“Well, it is, but that’s not why I’m laughing,” she said. “Look what I’m reading.”
She held up a copy of my book The Shelter of God’s Promises.
“Thank you,” I said. “What made you pick up that book?”
“Because I’m stuck,” she said. “And I’ve been stuck for years.”
“Okay,” I said. “Try to tell me the story of your life in five minutes.”
“It’ll take a lot longer than that,” she said.
“I’ll listen to the long version, too, but first give it to me in five.”
I have found that this exercise effectively reveals what we consider the most significant moments in our lives. In her five-minute version all this dear woman talked about was the husband who had left her years ago. The impact and betrayal had been devastating, but she had chosen to define her whole life according to that one event. That’s why she was stuck.
Jesus met many people who were stuck. The man lying by the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years is an example. And what did Jesus say to him? Jesus’ question may have seemed quite insensitive: “Would you like to get well?” (John 5:6). The importance of the question, however, outweighed the risk of appearing insensitive. To get well—to get unstuck—we have to be willing to let go of what was and to embrace what is.
If I asked you to tell me the story of your life in five minutes, what would you say? What would be the main events, the turning points, and the tough places? I’d like to encourage you to take a few minutes sometime today and try this exercise. When we tell our story in five minutes and then pay attention to what we have focused on, then we can—by God’s grace—take steps to get unstuck.
Life brings moments that devastate, but we have a Savior who came to heal and to give us hope.
Five Minutes in the Word 
When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”
John 5:6
Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”
John 5:8
Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the LORD will protect you from behind. Then when you call, the LORD will answer. “Yes, I am here,” he will quickly reply.
Isaiah 58:8–9
He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5 NIV
[The bleeding woman] said to herself, “If I only touch [Jesus’] cloak, I will be healed.”
Matthew 9:21 NIV