Trusting God with My What Ifs and Whys

By Linda Dillow

Women worry a lot. They worry about their children, their friends, their careers, their families, their spouses—the list could go on and on. Yes, they want to be content and trust God with their worries, but it’s a struggle to let go and find freedom from the burden of anxiety.

For women who are tired of worrying about all the what-ifs, if-onlys, and whys of life and want to experience the calm and contentment promised in Scripture, Trusting God with My What-Ifs and Whys is an excellent companion. Excerpted and adapted from Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillon, this booklet is filled with encouragement and practical help for overcoming anxiety. It was designed to help women discover what the Bible says about contentment and offer ways to apply it to daily life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
• Release date: Mar 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781612918143

Book preview

TRUSTING GOD WITH MY WHAT IFS

Did you know there are spiritual diseases? Two of the deadliest are the if diseases, What If and If Only. These illnesses are fraternal twins, alike but not alike. Both lack the eyes of faith. What If looks to the future and worries about what God might allow. If Only looks to the past and grumbles about what God has given. The first leads to anxiety, the second to anger.

Darlene longed to have a child. After years of waiting, blonde, blue-eyed Amber was born. She was the perfect baby. She slept, nursed, and smiled. She was never sick, always agreeable. Angel Baby became her nickname.

As Amber grew, Darlene noticed that she seemed oblivious to others. It was as if Angel Baby lived in her own heavenly world. Amber underwent some long and agonizing testing that revealed she was autistic. Darlene and her husband went through a grieving process of understanding, accepting, and finally thanking God. Then they sought programs for autistic children.

Three years after Amber’s birth, a brown-eyed boy joined the family. Seth was a real charmer, but was he normal? Questions stormed through Darlene’s heart. I remember the day this dear, young woman looked at me and said, Linda, is it so wrong to want to have a normal child?

Seth was evaluated and the therapist said, Yes, it’s very possible that Seth is not normal, but we will have to wait and see.

How can one live with this kind of uncertainty, with this kind of pain? "Oh God, What If Seth is not normal—can I bear it? How do I wait months not knowing? How do I trust You in the midst of this dark tunnel?" These were the cries of Darlene’s heart. Years ago, I read a book called Journey into the Whirlwind, about a Russian woman who was imprisoned for thirteen years (six in solitary confinement) under Stalin. Her crime? She was a teacher. I was so stunned by a particular statement in her book that I copied it and put it in my file. She said that the most difficult time in her life was not the horrendous suffering during years of imprisonment but the three weeks of waiting prior to her arrest. The uncertainty and anxiety she felt as she and her family waited on the unknown was torture. Why was this? Perhaps because waiting for an inevitable disaster is worse than the disaster itself.[1]

Waiting for the What Ifs of life, for what might happen, causes the sturdiest of hearts to be anxious. How did Darlene live with her huge What If about her son? How do you and I live with the What Ifs God allows in our lives? Darlene ended up looking at her situation through the eyes of faith. She also worked through a practical project to help her face her worst What If.

M

AKING THE