Have you ever worried about worrying? It’s quite fun actually, as eventually you end up realizing that you don’t need to worry at all!

It happened to me on our way home from Seattle. As I was sitting comfortably in the nice brown leather chair provided by Alaska Airlines, several thousand feet about the earth, nibbling on an ice cube provided with my tonic water, I found myself reviewing our recent trip in my mind. Suddenly it hit me: What would have happened if any of our travel plans had been delayed for any reason?

You see, I had planned our trip in detail months before the event, and in order to take full advantage of our three weeks of vacation, I had minutely coordinated all the connections, events and accommodations. Any delay would have caused my precious plans to tumble like a fragile house of cards!

I mean, what if the plane had been delayed in Rochester and we had arrived in Seattle a day late? Imagine the nightmare of contacting all the travel arrangements made months in advance.

What if the Alaskan Ferry had been late by more than a day, or even worse, what if it had sunk before it picked us up? There wouldn’t have been another ferry for another 3-4 days! “Stuck in Prince Rupert, B.C., so close to our final goal, Alaska, but too far away (and too cold!) to contemplate swimming in the frigid waters!” Of course I could have also worried about it sinking when we were aboard, but even I didn’t want to go there!

What if there had been no Canadian cars at the Hertz car rental at the Seattle airport? Would we have had to walk?

What if a hotel lost our reservation? Would we have had to live in the streets?

What if…

It’s then that I realized that there are no “what ifs” in God’s vocabulary. Not only did we have to trust in the people with whom we made the reservations, but we also had to trust our Heavenly Father who always has our best interest at heart. After all, there was that one motel that DID conveniently lose our reservation. We were plenty upset at the time. I could just imagine us, at the end of a long day on the Alaska Highway, having to load everyone back in the car and travel another 400 miles through rugged mountain terrain to the next town big enough to have a hotel . . . But when we decided to leave it in God’s hands, we learned that the hotel right beside the one we had planned to stay at still had a room available-a room that was twice as big, with queen-sized beds, and cheaper than the hotel that had turned us down! In fact, because of our lost reservation, we ended up at the best hotel in town!

Does God provide? No doubt about it!

So why worry? It only makes us needlessly shake in our boots! No wonder I have to buy so many pairs of shoes!

Instead, let’s welcome such trials with open arms. Let’s delight in sitting back to watch how our Heavenly Father turns those same trials into opportunities to get to know Him better! After all, He ALWAYS has our best interest at heart!

Here is some advice from the Lover of our soul:

“What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” (Matt 6:31-34 The Message)

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (Luke 12:25-26 NIV)

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” (John 14:1 NIV)

“Oh no! Will my package arrive on time?”

Should you even bother worrying about it?

“But it’s my new X-box! I can’t wait to try it out!”

Why not try God out instead? Discover the scores of adrenaline that He will bestow on you through the amazing adventures He has planned for you! Adventures that will ensure that He is a vital part of your life, adventures that will ensure that you get to know Him better!

Wow!

Rob Chaffart