Election day is finally here, and the fear and anxiety on both sides is almost palatable.  Both sides are equally worried about their opponent getting into office.  What if … (fill in the blank) gets into office?  What will foreign policies look like, the border, our economy?  The “what if’s” swirl and the worries build. 

The “what if’s” of life are overwhelming at times.  Not just politically or globally but on an individual level.  What if the diagnosis is bad?  What if an accident takes the life of a loved one?  What if I lose my job?  What if I can’t afford my house payment and can’t provide for my family?  And on and on we can go.  They leave us feeling helpless, defeated, hopeless, and completely out of control.  If you noticed all of the things we normally worry about, are things that are out of our control.  I can cast my vote, but that doesn’t guarantee my nominee will win.  I can drive safely, but that doesn’t prevent the semi from crossing the center lane.   It’s all the unknowns that leave us spinning.  The definition of the word worry is to afflict with mental distress or agitation.  Growing up we had a top load washing machine…because back then that was the only option other than washing by hand.  I remember opening the lid to throw in forgotten laundry and watching the agitator work the water into a frothy mix of colors, bubbles and water.  Back and forth it would rotate.  Never making it completely around.  Then it would slowly start picking up speed.  Pretty soon it was no longer a hypnotic back and forth motion but a slow spin.  The water started draining and the speed continued to accelerate.   Before you knew it the clothes were plastered to the wall.  The speed of the drum created its own wind and shook the floor with its power.  And all the while my mom wondered where I had disappeared to. 

The “what if’s” in life work in the same way.  At first, they can be almost hypnotic and relaxing, like somehow our questions are preparing us.  But all too quickly they start to take on a life of their own and we’re sucked into the spin cycle.  The origin of the word worry meant to slay, kill or injure by biting and shaking the throat (as a dog or wolf does) or to strangle.  If we let agitation grow it can become damaging and life threatening.  If I were to stick my hand into the washer during the agitation cycle, I’d have a soapy wet hand.  If I tried to grab a piece of clothing during the spin cycle, I’d have a mangled arm.  Over the years I’ve learned the hard way that I need to answer the “what if’s” immediately when they come into my life.  The answer I was given years ago was, even if.  Even if I get a bad diagnosis, I will trust God and praise Him.  Even if the election doesn’t go the way I want, I will trust God because He is in control and is sovereign.  It gives me a choice in the unknowns, I can trust my Creator and the Author of my life, or I can let worry grab me by my throat and throw me around.   I’m not helpless, I’m not defeated, I’m not hopeless, because I know who holds control even in the spin cycles of life.  Even if my worries become reality, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities nor powers, nor things present not things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39 

Lastly, to control your worries is a fight.  We recently watched “Cinderella Man”.  It’s about a boxer during the great depression who had lost everything.  It was a daily struggle just to keep his family fed and with a roof over their heads.  At the end of the movie, a reporter asks him why he was willing to box a man he was destined to lose.  His response was he was fighting for milk.  In other words, he was fighting for the ability to put a roof over his family’s head, to be able to buy milk for them, for the right to live without constant fear of ending up on the street.  Had he stepped into that ring with the “what if’s” swirling through his mind, he would have been so distracted and paralyzed by fear, he would have lost not just the fight, but more than likely his life as well.  There is a battle for our souls and the lost around us.  If we are so distracted and paralyzed by fear, we’re no good in the fight.  When we walk into that doctor’s office with the assurance that our God is in control even if there’s bad diagnosis, we’ve won.  When we walk away from this election and continue to live the life that God has called us to, not letting fear or anger take over, we’ve won.  I have a friend who is going through a very dark valley right now.  Her response has been one of prayer, praise, and an unfailing trust in God.  Through these horribly dark days she’s told me more than once that she’s felt the presence and peace of God more in her life than ever before.  Y’all, she’s won.  God’s power makes a statement in these moments that all can see.  In the midst of the battle, we don’t let worry own us.  We have a peace that surpasses all understanding.  And with the world so desperately looking for peace, ours will shine bright showing the way to God.