What if?

Historically, I have been what you might call the Queen of What If.  This condition started early on in childhood but  escalated quickly the very first time I held my first baby in my arms.  

What if....I break her?  What if....she breaks me??  

Worry.  What if.  By the time my husband or children walk through the door 15 minutes later than I've anticipated?  Well, I've already started the grieving process, just knowing they're in a ditch somewhere.  

In this particular day and age we are bombarded with opportunities to just wallow in worry.  Especially if we allow ourselves to get sucked into watching The News.  On any station you pick, it's going to bring you down down down.  Just the intonation and delivery of the news by television commentators will spark your What If tendencies and make you miserable.  I feel like a lot of television journalists can make even good news sound bad.  Who needs that?

Do yourself a favor.  Turn your TV off.  

Would you consider that life is better than we're led to believe?  Would you look around and find the good?  Seriously, it's everywhere.  It really is.  Make a list, you'll be amazed!

Back to the What Ifs.... sometimes they do come true.  Sometimes things do go horribly wrong.  Sometimes our lives are broken. We long for peace.  We need peace.  We won't make it without inner peace.

And we have access to that peace.  The Prince of Peace.  He's there for us, we're getting ready to celebrate His birth in a few weeks.  Jesus is peace, and Christmas should remind us of that fact.

But today is Thanksgiving and I learned something new recently in a Bible study I'm part of.  Peace starts with thanksgiving.  Being thankful activates trust in God.  The action of thanking God in everything, everything, reminds our hearts that God's in control.  We can trust Him.  He has never failed us.  He will never fail us.  In fact, He cannot fail us.  He knows the beginning from the end, the "Big Picture",  and even when we can't see the good, it's there.  We can trust Him with every part of our lives, and that brings peace.  

We can choose thankful prayer over wallowing in anxiety and worry.  This demonstrates trust in God.  "Concentrating on Him instead of being absorbed by our circumstances tells the Lord that we believe He is able to override and overcome even the most difficult issues.  This kind of faith catches His attention, and he responds by activating His peace within us."  (Priscilla Shirer, Armor of God)

Please believe me when I tell you that peace is there for the asking.  Thankful prayer will bring you peace.  It's that simple.  

What if... today's the day you reach out for peace through thankful prayer and trusting God!  It's the perfect day for that.....Happy Thanksgiving!