Pray for the world. One of the most used hashtags on Twitter. What is going on with the world? I feel like every time I go on social media or turn on the TV, there is always something horrible happening all around us. It just makes me want to stop looking at my phone and not even bother watching TV. It's always another bombing here and another shooting there. Makes me want to take my family and stay in a bubble until the madness is over. Am I the only one whose anxiety is through the roof with the way the world is going?
I am so afraid and anxious. I am afraid to get on a plane because I don't know if I'll make it to my destination. I am afraid to go into a major city because I don't know if I'll make it home alive. I am afraid to do anything outside of my home because home is the only place I feel safe now. I am afraid to turn on the TV because the news will get me more anxious and paranoid. It's happening all around us but will it ever happen to us? I surely cannot be the only one who thinks and feels like this.
Once I eventually take in all the frightening news and calm down a bit, I come to the realization that this is all out of my control. I should let go of some of the anxiety and let God handle it. You can't help but panic though because the unknown future is out of my hands. That's what made me anxious; the fear of not being to control the world around me or control what could happen to me. The fact that all around, people are dying because there are these sick authorities, etc. with their own agenda, killing us off with no remorse. The fact that it could also happen to someone I know and love at any time or place and there's nothing I can even do to protect them.
Instead of being anxious and nervous 95% of the time, I took all of my fears and anxiety to God. I remember two things that I have known for a very long time. Two things came to mind that I learned a long, long time ago that I had forgotten about. God is in control. Tomorrow is not promised. God is the one in control of everything, and I am not. It is something that I have to remind myself every day multiple times. Who knows if I'll wake up in the morning or make it to Christmas? Life is short and our time will come one day and I will not live in fear because of that.
So I have made a promise to myself. A promise to live life without fear and put my trust in God when my anxiety starts to take over. The world may only get crazier and it shouldn't result in denying ourselves from enjoying the pleasures in life, locking ourselves in our homes, in fear of what could happen. I will not hide from this world, but I will embrace it while I still can. I will rely on God when life gets overwhelming and frightening. Let us all remember that our days are numbered. Don't take anything for granted. Don't hide away.
