Sunday Inspiration- Overcoming Anxiety
Another day it is-Sunday. Am I going to be late again for church service was the question I asked myself as I quickly rushed out of bed. “Early to bed, early to rise” as always said could definitely be rephrased as “late to bed late to rise” as this was going to be my situation since I went to bed real late the previous night. However, trying to cheat nature, I managed to wake up quite early thanks to my roommate who was already ready for church when he woke me up. In a bid not to make both of us late, I quickly took my bath (you and I know it was not well done since I finished bathing in less than two minutes) and got ready for church. Thinking I have been able to cheat nature kept on running through my mind as I contemplated how I managed to wake up early for church service looking at the time I slept yesterday. Nevertheless, as the adage goes “Nature can never be cheated” became well understood today as I went through an ordeal I don’t think I will ever forget. Having failed to prepare the previous night for church service resulted in me wearing any attire just so I don’t get to church late. Thanks be to God, I was not late, but my arriving early didn’t make any difference as I realized I had lost my wallet as I got down from my motorbike.
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Gracious God! My wallet! I have basically every form of identification in that piece of material, from my National Identification card to my Voter’s ID to my NHIS (National Health Insurance Scheme) card, my Student’s ID not to mention all my ATM cards. At this point, the money in my wallet didn’t matter anymore. I just wanted to lay hold of all my cards. “I can’t lose my wallet” was all that kept running through my mind. I knew I had to search for it but the question was, where was I going to start from since I didn’t go straight to the church auditorium from my hostel, but made a number of twists and turns along the way. Notwithstanding, as determined as a predator for its prey, I decided to give the idea of going back to search for the wallet a thought. I moved from one place to the other, asking anyone I met on that route whether he/ she had come across a black wallet was my greeting for the morning. I even searched routes I didn’t pass with the ideology that someone might have picked it up and emptied the contents along the way. Ironic right? That’s what desperation can lead to. Having searched frantically for it, I decided to give it a break (not give up, because “give up” is a phrase not found in my dictionary). Honestly speaking, I questioned God, because I felt He knew how valuable my wallet was to me. Besides, the money I had in my wallet was meant for payments in His house- the church.
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Beloved, one thing I failed to realize was what the Bible said in Philippians 4:6 which says “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done” I had allowed anxiety to set in, but God being so good, during my search this quotation dropped into my spirit. Having tried my best to find the wallet by my strength, I finally said a prayer (I should have rather prayed in the beginning,) and asked God to have His will done, since he provides, there was no cause to be scared. I thanked Him for his provision so far and asked Him to show His mighty power once more. I paused looking for it and returned to the auditorium, believe me you, after I returned, in less than 15 minutes, I received a pat from the back from an usher who told me there was someone outside of the auditorium waiting to see me. Oblivious of the fact that this good Samaritan was carrying good news, I grudgingly went out. To my utmost surprise, he claimed he found my wallet on the side of the road and after a few enquiries, was directed to our church auditorium after he was told that was where I fellowshipped.
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Dear Steemian, you can imagine my joy when I opened my wallet and found everything intact including my coins. Lol. After all, I couldn’t cheat nature since I missed out on a greater portion of the church service. But I did learn one thing- when we are faced with challenges, difficulties and problems, instead of worrying and complaining, why don’t we surrender it into God’s hands since He is the only one who can help us. Worrying doesn’t add any value to our lives, but rather steals our inner peace and tranquility. I advise we quit worrying but rather with prayer, supplications and Thanksgiving, we make our requests known to God.
Thank you for reading!
God Bless You!
Shalom!