A thought by Christine Cane, from her book, How Did I Get Here? (p. 19). Thomas Nelson, Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)
But it is so important.
Christine says, "Something that I know doesn’t come easy to a lot of us because trusting God takes intentionality and perpetual, repeated choosing. It isn’t passive but active—and our trust is tested with time and trials."
She continues, "We tend to think that we are trusting in him and that trusting is easy until . . . until we start to lose control of the things we’ve worked so hard to control—whether it’s our children, our marriages, our homes, our schedules, our routines, our friendships, our education, our careers, our savings, or even our spiritual lives, as strange as that may sound. We think we’ve reached a certain level of maturity, but if we face a crisis bigger than or different from anything we’ve ever faced before, we realize we have more room to grow. More room to trust."
She later says, "Over the years, I’ve learned that one of the signs I might be walking away from trust and moving over into fear is when all the what-if questions start coming. . . Each time, I know I can run with them and start drifting or stop them by dropping—and setting—anchor and trusting God once more. I feel sure you know exactly what I’m talking about . . . when our minds just go there. . .
"What if . . . what if . . . what if . . . ? When our thinking starts to be irrational, when our thoughts start dragging us down a road where we never wanted to go, when we feel helpless to stop the unraveling that ensues, we’re not trusting God in the present moment because, in our heads, we’re playing out a future moment. And if we’re not careful, we can go from peace to panic, from wonder to worry, from stewarding to squandering, from preparation to winging it, from trust to terrified in mere minutes. It’s so easy, when the what-ifs start, to drift not only in our thinking but in everything our thinking affects—our decision-making, our sound judgment, our responses, our beliefs, our emotions, our perspectives. Even our physical bodies.
"I’ve experienced this kind of helplessness before, in that season when I wanted to ring the bell. I had given up and gotten up after one of those nights I told you about, where I couldn’t sleep, and I went out onto our bedroom balcony to get a breath of fresh air. But instead of relaxing and staying in a place of trusting God, I started ruminating again—and reliving the past only led me to thinking of all the what-ifs. Before I knew it, I was drifting, and my heart was racing so fast I couldn’t catch it.
"Soon, my body started shaking from head to toe. And I couldn’t stop it. No matter how hard I tried. No matter how much I concentrated—or tried to concentrate. It was no use. It was as though my body had grown a mind of its own. I wanted it to do one thing, but it had decided to do another. When I called out for Nick, my teeth were chattering as though I were freezing, and my voice sounded barely above a whisper to my ears. Still, he was there in a flash, and he held on to me until I stopped shaking. To this day I’m not sure how long that was, but I do remember his voice. And what he said. Over and over. 'I got you.'"
She then says, "Isn’t that what God is always saying to us? In one way or another? He’s promised us, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you' (Heb. 13:5 ESV; see also Deut. 31:6), and God keeps his promises (Heb. 10:23). Still, why is it sometimes easier to give in to our what-ifs than to lean into him? He even promises to keep us in perfect peace if we’ll just trust him and keep our minds steadfastly fixed on him (Isa. 26:3). And yet, our tendency is to drift."
Yes it is but we don't have to, do we? It is so good to know that we are not alone, that others have the same problems we do but also to realize that God is there and He will never leave us. So will you somehow reach out to Him and let His touch you? Will you? Yes, yes! #continuethought
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