Don't Panic!!!

 

I met up with Jenny one day last week and had an amazing conversation, which I think set me up for how the rest of my week was going to pan out. I was talking to Jenny about how I can’t handle chaos. My life is chaotic right now and I am always in tears and fighting off stress and frustration. I can’t handle chaotic situations where a lot is going on. For instance, imagine walking into a house where kids are running  in and out of the house, a kid is crying in the corner because he dropped his sucker, adults are all talking loudly and some are arguing, there is music coming from another part of the house, the TV is blaring in the living room, and all this is happening all at once. That stressed me out just typing it all out, so you can imagine how I feel daily. Jenny encouraged me to find things to be thankful for amid the chaos.

 A day or so later, I leave work and a storm is brewing. The sky is dark, and I know it is about to start raining. I hate driving in the rain, I try and avoid it all costs. So, I head over to a doctor’s appointment. I check-in and find a seat in the waiting room, my phone isn’t getting any service, so I get my journal out of my purse and decide to write down a few things that I am thankful for. I wrote down that I am thankful for my job and my car. Sure, enough when I am leaving the doctor’s office it is raining. I make it to my car without getting too wet, but it starts to get heavier as I am driving. I am driving along thinking that I am just going to stop and get something to eat and go straight home, and BAM!! Another car took me out. Apparently, the other car driver did not have windshield wipers that were working, and he was trying to get to Auto Zone to buy some. Well, that is all I am going to say about that. The enemy had a plan, but God has a greater plan.

I managed to get out of my car, and I went and asked the other driver if he was ok. He said he was, and I asked him what he was doing, and that’s when he told me about his wipers. I went back to my car to get out of the rain and that is when the pain started to set in. I had the ambulance take me to the hospital. I thought for sure something was wrong. I am trying so hard not to panic, but of course, I am crying and emotional. I was thinking about my car because I really wanted to pay it off and not have car payments for a couple of years. I was thinking about my injuries, was this going to make the already existing health issues worse? On top of everything else I am facing now, I must find another car and start all over with payments. Thankfully, the x-rays and CT came back clear and it was all just muscle pain that a few days on a heating pad and some pain pills took care of. As I am waiting at the hospital I remembered that I just wrote that I was thankful for my car in my journal.

Since I didn’t have a car my sister came to pick me up and we hung out for the day. She was telling me about a couple of situations that arose. Her washer had gone out and she had to pay to get it fixed and as soon as the repairs on her washer were done her dryer starts making a loud noise. Then she gets a letter in the mail telling her about a problem that had to do with her water if I remember that correctly. When she was telling me all this, I heard God say, “DON’T PANIC!!”

Was it a coincidence that I wrote in my journal that I am thankful for my car and then moments later It is totaled in a car crash? What the enemy means for evil, God will use for good. The enemy saw that I wrote that I am thankful for my car and he said oh yeah? He expected me to lose my cool because I was tempted to yell and scream at that other driver. He wanted me to be mad at God and to blame Him, but I didn’t because just like the enemy was there God was there too. The enemy wants us to blame God and to stop worshipping Him. But, why? The enemy knows that God has a plan and a purpose for us, and God wants to use us for His kingdom. So, he tries to distract us with letters in the mail, car crashes, and broken-down appliances. Don’t panic, don’t grumble and complain and stay in peace. As crazy as it may sound, we must be thankful during the chaos. Thankful for the things we do have and not what we just lost.

The enemy is mad at us because we are followers of Christ. He is going to do what he can to keep us from progressing with God. So, when the enemy puts those wrenches in our tires, we must remember that God has the ultimate say in our lives. The enemy can throw his punches, but we must keep pressing forward and DON’T PANIC!!

Stay in peace.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27