I was in the check-out line at Publix, when I panicked. I remembered putting the pressure cooker ‘on’ full of beans for canning. But, what if I didn’t turn it off?! I couldn’t remember turning it off. By now the water would have been gone. The pressure cooker would have exploded. The ‘on’ gas coupled with the explosion from the ‘bean bomb’ would have set the house on fire. The neighbors, by now, have called the fire department. Guess what? I got home, and I discovered that I had turned off the stove before I left. Why do we do this? Why do we allow a thought, even when we don’t know whether it is true, to run away and get bigger and bigger until we have used up a great deal of emotional energy considering the ‘what ifs?’ What if my kids make bad choices? What if I fail at my job? What if I get cancer? Philippians tells us to FIRST GIVE THANKS to GOD and THEN PRAY, tell God what you are worried about. Focus on God not the worry. Worries tend to get bigger when we concentrate on them. Set your eyes on GOD and the peace of God will guard your heart.
– Virginia Thompson