Do you ever think “what if?”

What if the unthinkable happens to me? What if I get overly anxious and I embarrass myself completely? What if I do all this work and the book never materializes and I waste many women’s time interviewing them? What if something happens to my family? What if, what if, what if….

What if this, what if that? It’s endless. It can be totally overwhelming.

Tonight as I was taking a walk, I was praying about some”what ifs” in my life. I have been asked from quite a few people lately, “When will we hear another great story on your blog?” Or they say, “I really enjoyed your devotions in Words of Hope, will you be doing more soon?” Another one is, “How is your book coming along, I can’t wait to read it!”

All of these questions and comments are encouraging and polite. I greatly appreciate the interest people show, and I believe many prayers are behind most of those questions.

They also scare me to death! The thing is, I get totally stuck sometimes.

I praise God, because four months ago I never thought I would be outside on a cool summer night taking a fast walk and feeling top notch.

At the end of February, my life came to a screeching halt and my life was turned upside down. It was very traumatic for me as I ended up in the hospital for three days. It seems I was in a total fog for weeks. I’ll talk more in-depth about that someday when I’m ready.

Sometimes I think, “What if?”

I enjoyed the favor of God during the time before and during the publication of the devotionals in Words of Hope in May this year. If you missed them, or want to read them here is the link. https://woh.org/word/devotional-date-results/2016/5 It was fun to pass them out to family, friends, and strangers. Many people celebrated with me on my first work in actual print. It was an exciting time for me. I realized how the Holy Spirit really had to work in and through me in order to write those.

On the left, you’ll see the introduction of all the contributing authors in this booklet. On the right, you’ll see my mini “bio.”

Now, I’m interviewing women again and feeling well most of the time. I praise God that I’m able to do almost everything I was doing before. Even “if” the unthinkable things happen, I pray that my faith will remain strong.

It reminds me of the verses in the book of Daniel when God’s servants, Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego speak to the king Nebuchadnezzar and declare that they will follow their God.

Daniel 3:16-18 says, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” (NLT)

I pray that I will have the faith to continue to trust God no matter what he allows in my life. The Christian walk is not assurance that nothing negative will happen to me. But I do know that the Holy Spirit will be at my side and will never leave me.

So, worry is sometimes a “gold statue” in my life. What are your “gold statues?”