Scripture

Matthew 6:34 (The Message)

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

Consider

When we are in the middle of a conflict, we may try to anticipate what terrible thing might happen next so that we can somehow armor ourselves against it. The problem is, we get so good at visualizing what might happen that we start believing it must happen, and we only add to our distress. If someone has hurt us, we fear being hurt again; if someone has betrayed us, we anticipate another betrayal. We play out scenarios in our heads and get ourselves worked up over anticipated pain and offenses that may never happen.

Because we are only human and not God, we cannot say for certain what the other person will do. We cannot see into another person’s heart. Jesus advises us to focus on what we do know and to trust God to see us through whatever comes next.

Pray

FATHER, sometimes I struggle to find peace in the midst of a conflict because I do not feel safe. Be my hiding place at such times. Take control of my imagination, and instead of visualizing trouble, let me see how you have helped me in the past. Replace my arrogance with the realization that I cannot see into other people’s hearts no matter how well I think I know them.

Reflect

Samuel 16:7; Psalm 32:7

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How might your anticipating trouble actually make it more likely to happen?