Richard Daly - Calm Your Soul

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F or the support and encouragement given to me during the process of this book, I give thanks and appreciation to my family: my wife Maxine and three boys, Ryan, Simeon and Liam.

It has also been a long and joyful journey working with William Collins and HarperCollins, and I thank the team of editors for their vision and belief in me in producing yet another book that is designed to help make a difference in peoples lives.

Available at http://harpercollins.co.uk

RICHARD DALY has been in full-time church ministry for the past twenty-seven years. During this time, he has pastored several churches in the West Country and within London. He has been involved in several mission projects in various parts of Africa including Ghana, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Malawi. Pastor Daly has a passion for working within the community, and in doing so, has served in local community initiatives and leadership projects. He has extended his ministry as a hospital, prison and university volunteer chaplain and served at the London 2012 Olympic Games as a chaplain, ministering to athletes and personnel within the Olympic village.

Richard has authored fourteen books including the Gods Little Book series. He is married to Maxine and together have three children. Outside of ministry, Richard enjoys playing tennis and squash.

It is not work that wears us out, but sadness, anxiety and worry. To God, all of your griefs are worthy of consideration.

T he demands of life can be relentless. Each new day brings new challenges finances, job insecurities, health concerns, family issues and personal problems, to name a few. How do we deal with the merry-go-round of life, trying to juggle several balls at once and still keep our feet on firm ground?

One thing that contributes to greater instability is holding on to the negative emotional baggage that often comes with lifes toils. Worry, anxiety and sadness deplete the soul of necessary vital resources that keep it energised and sustained. You need to avoid that emotional burnout!

Casting your burdens on the Lord and leaving them there is the best way to rid yourself of each days trials. Everything that concerns you is a concern to God hes not too busy to want to help solve the small issues in your life.

Philippians 4:67

1 Peter 5:7

God in his ingenious, creative design, has built within us natural alarm signals headaches, migraines, exhaustion, stress, agitation to warn us when the pendulum of calm has swung too far in the wrong direction. Do yourself a favour and listen to your body.

I f theres one voice that often gets squeezed out in the everyday journey of life, its the voice of our own bodies. Our body speaks to us all the time about how its feeling. Often we ignore that advice. When we push ourselves with overwork, overeating or anything that is in excess, our body screams for our attention: Im tired I need some rest!, My eyes are straining from being glued too long to that screen, Im feeling dehydrated I need some water!

If we were to just take time to listen to our bodies, how much better we would feel on a daily basis! Our bodies would respond by saying Thank you for listening to me and give us a much-needed feel-good factor. Respect your body and it will respect you!

Psalm 32:8

The nicest and sweetest days are not necessarily those in which anything very spectacular or exciting happens, but those that bring simple pleasures such as the sun sinking like a gold coin into the pocket of night.

W e overcomplicate things in life. Running ahead of ourselves to reach a deadline or rushing to get somewhere on time means we lose out on so many simple things along the journey. Pace yourself. Give yourself room to pause and breathe. When you slow down you will start to notice things that have always been there. There are awesome, life-inspiring moments that occur almost every day, but we need to take time to notice them. So bring calm to your soul by appreciating those simple works of nature. Be inspired! Let nature speak to you of a God who is the perfect creator.

Psalm 96:1112

When you face an impossibility, leave it in the hands of the specialist. He wont necessarily handle it your way, but hell handle it. The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

Y ou cant do everything! Some things demand the expertise of a specialist. You may be able to solve some tasks, but you will always face impossible situations in life where you have no clue or idea how you will get through. Sometimes in those situations you may turn to God as the last resort, but dont leave him to the last minute when all the other doors have closed. Seek him first in every situation big or small theres nothing he cant handle. If you allow him to handle the little things, you may find his method prevents anything becoming bigger.