My husband and I sleep with our ceiling fan on full blast to keep the air moving and prevent me from going up in flames when I have a hot flash. One night, however, since the outside temperature was extremely frigid, we turned the fan to a lower speed.

I woke in the night and heard what sounded like scratching, or tiny feet, like mice feet, in the ceiling over my head. Not wanting to wake my husband, I lay there imagining all kinds of terrible things happening in our attic. Were mice building giant nests, eating the lumber and sheetrock, dancing mice discos, and destroying our house? My very fertile imagination created all sorts of nightmarish scenarios.

By morning, I was ready to get a flamethrower and take action. Fortunately, my husband was smart enough and kind enough to check the attic before I did anything rash. He found no problems, nor did he find an army of mice marching around the rafters.

I returned to our bedroom, turned the ceiling fan on, and waited. Sure enough, the scratching sound started up again. Were the mice waiting to come out in the cover of the fan noise? Oh, man, they were a sneaky bunch!

Before I threw a smoke bomb up the attic stairs, I decided to turn the fan on high. And what do you know? The noise went away. I turned it to the lower speed, and the scratching sound started again. Then it hit me: the fan’s vibration was the actual sound I was hearing.

Sigh. I put away the smoke bomb and flame thrower and quietly walked away.

How much time do we waste worrying about something we hear on the news, on social media, or when someone shares a rumor? How frequently do our minds form nightmarish worst-case scenarios?

Corrie Ten Boom gives a great visual, “Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.”

Oswald Chambers wrote, “The one thing that keeps us from the possibility of worrying is bringing God in as the greatest factor in all our calculations. … If we are obsessed by God, nothing else can get into our lives–not concerns, nor tribulations, nor worries. And now we understand why our Lord so emphasized the sin of worrying. How can we dare to be so absolutely unbelieving when God totally surrounds us? To be obsessed by God is to have an effective barricade against all the assaults of the enemy.”

If fear is at the center of our worries, they will only grow. Yet if we are obsessed with and centered on our loving, almighty, all-powerful, merciful, kind, and compassionate God, we are barricaded against the enemy and against worry.

Jesus said, “What’s the use of worrying? What good does it do? Will it add a single day to your life? Of course not! And if worry can’t even do such little things as that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?” (Luke 12:25-26, TLB).

Therefore, no matter what you hear or think you hear, don’t worry and don’t be anxious about anything. Instead, in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, bring your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Matthew 6:34, Philippians 4:6)

Happy sigh.

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