When was the last time you were distracted, totally freaked out and incapable of accomplishing the task set before you? Just a few weeks ago I was right there; totally overwhelmed, frustrated and distracted by my environment. I couldn’t accomplish the task at hand!
I was driving my regular 220 mile trip to Kansas City to stay with dad, when I had a tire blowout! That was scary. When I got out of the car to look at the flat, of course it had to be the drive side back tire.
I drove a short distance to find a safe place to change the tire but there was no such thing. I had to just do it! When I got out, I was discouraged even more, there was only five feet between my tire and the white line. Not to mention the cars and trucks were flying by at more than 75 miles per hour shaking my car as they passed.
I got the jack and tire iron out to try to break the lug nuts loose. I don’t know when the last time was you changed a tire but holy cow those things are on tight.
As I struggle to loosen the lug nuts I could hear trucks and cars coming toward me and I would look up in fear. I was not able to focus on what I was doing.
I got back in my car and call my husband and he gave me some tips to get the tire iron to stay on the lug nuts in order to be able to loosen them so I got up my courage and got out of the car again.
I took a deep breath and said to myself, I can do this, I can do this.
As I bent over to start trying again and another car came flying by, I just couldn’t focus.
I was so distracted, I kept looking up and thinking of all the terrible things that can happen if a car or truck were to come over the 5 feet and hit me.
Then I realized I can’t do this… I can’t do this if I’m worried about getting hit by a truck.
Finally, I just said, “OK, Lord you got this, you know what’s coming and you know what’s going to happen, so I’m just going to trust you! You have got my back and I’m going to focus on the tire.”
This scripture came to mind (not word for word but I remembered reading it not too long ago),”Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.” 1 Chronicles 29:12
Then I put my head down and I focused on breaking those lug nuts. I did it! I thanked the Lord and went to work on the next one!
Just about that time a nice gentleman finally stopped to help me. It was so wonderful to have someone take it care of it for me. Trusting God first then praising Him for providing some much needed help.
As I reflect on that experience I think about how easy it is to be distracted by all the what ifs in life; what if I don’t succeed, what if this doesn’t work, what if I don’t get the job, what ifs and fears are around us every day.
Here are a couple of things I do to quiet the what ifs….
Memorize Scripture. Here are just a few scriptures to help you remember God’s sovereignty.
Proverbs 16:9 “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”
Genesis 50:20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
Second Chronicles 20:6 “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.”
Take a deep breath and look at your situation from a different perspective.
WebMD.com states, “Deep breathing is one of the best ways to lower stress in the body. This is because when you breathe deeply, it sends a message to your brain to calm down and relax.” When we are able to calm down and relax it gives us time to let the truth of scriptures come to mind. This can give us God’s perspective and help us to focus on the here and now not the what ifs.
There are always a million things that could go wrong but we serve a God who knows it all! We serve a God who loves us more than we can even understand! He knows what our future holds so as we start to focus in on the task that he has given us, we can trust him to take care of everything else.
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