There is a very familiar gospel song that comes to mind titled “Through It All”. The words to the chorus are so apropos for today’s blog.

Through it all, through it all,

I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God.

Through it all, through it all,

I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.

It takes life’s experiences, and all its ups and downs that work together to strengthen our relationship with God and develop spiritual maturity. I had an experience a few days ago that proves my point. We had been out of town and when we returned upon checking the mail, I opened an envelope from the institution through which my car is financed. As I read the content it stated that my insurance had been cancelled and the auto loan could be in jeopardy if the situation was not rectified immediately. Of course, I was startled by what I was reading but for some reason, I did not panic. It was late in the evening, it was also the weekend, so there was nothing I could do immediately. I had to wait until the next business day. Some time ago, maybe not even a number of years ago, I would have not been able to sleep that night. Instead, I folded the letter, placed it back in the envelope and put it where I would know it was something I needed to address first thing Monday morning. I am being very transparent in revealing to you that even as a pastor, mentor, teacher, counselor, parent — even in all those exemplary roles of leadership, I was at times prone to worry. But through it all . . . I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God!

I thought about all the statements and cliches we toss around when we speak to others and ourselves that we still struggle with putting into application. So, in essence, we are saying something but not internalizing it enough to honestly believe it! “Not to worry; Don’t Worry, Be Happy; No worries; Why worry when you can pray”. You know them as well as I do. Even if they have not been a part of your vernacular, you have heard them. This time, I was confident, I knew God had this! I was so confident that I didn’t even check our bank account to see that the payment had been made and cleared until the weekend was over. I am the bill payer in the family so if anything was awry it was my fault, definitely not my husband’s. I refused to panic. I knew I had made the payments each month as normal, on time and clearly there had to be some error on somebody else’s part, but it was not mine! When I called our insurance agent, he was just as calm as I was in his response. He assured me he would reach out to the finance institution and clear up whatever mistake there was and satisfy them with the documentation required.

It really is true — if you are going to trust God then don’t worry. If you’re going to worry, then don’t say you trust God. It makes every bit of sense to me, yet we struggle, wrestle, and are even overcome at times with worry. When we worry, we ultimately show lack of confidence in God. While I am not patting myself on the back, I do feel however that I pleased God. And considering the circumstances of how I used to react, I just might have put a smile on His face!

“The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of

righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.”

Isaiah 32:17 (NIV)