Calm My Anxious Heart, Part IV

This is the fourth and final part of my thoughts from Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow. The final three chapters deal with Trusting God with the What Ifs, the If Onlys, and the Whys.

The first two chapters deal with two diseases: the “what if” disease and the “if only” disease. The “what if” disease focuses on the future, leading to anxiety. The “if only” disease looks to the past, leading to anger.

I hate the “what if” game… but I’m really good at playing it. It’s so easy to get caught up in thinking about possible outcomes of the future. And while sometimes I enjoy daydreaming about what could be in all its glory, all too often the thoughts take a turn for the worse. Dillow quotes a lady who was imprisoned under Stalin for thirteen years. She says, “Waiting for an inevitable disaster is worse than the disaster itself.”

Check out this passage from Jeremiah 17.5-8:

Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.

Trusting in myself will only result in disaster. But trusting in the Lord will result in fruitfulness.

A method to deal with the “what if” disease was given:

- First, ask yourself what is the worst that can possibly happen.

- Then, prepare to accept it if you have to.

- Finally, calmly proceed to improve on the worst.

Dillow found this process to be a biblical method as seen in the lives of Paul and Esther, both of whom accepted the worst possible outcome (death), accepted that possibility, and made the most of their circumstances.

The “if only” disease.

Dillow writes, “There’s an if in every life – something God could have done differently if He had chosen to do so. He has all power, yet He often allows that if to be there.”

Our “if onlys” usually stem from real problems, but instead of focusing on God, we focus on the problem. We saw this occur when Israel was facing difficulties in the wilderness. Instead of going to God and trusting Him, they just wanted to head back to Egypt.

Whatever occurs in my life and whatever if onlys I may be facing, I must remember that I am here by God’s appointment in His keeping under His training for His time.

The last chapter is Trusting God with the Whys. This chapter focused on the uncommonly discussed book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk asked of God, “How long, O Lord? Why do you allow all this to happen?” God’s answer to him was less than satisfactory from our perspective, but he was to trust God anyway. 

Here was Habakkuk’s response:

Though the fig tree should not blossom,

And there be no fruit on the vines,

Though the yield of the olive should fail,

And the fields produce no food,

Though the flock should be cut off from the fold,

And there be no cattle in the stalls,

Yet I will exult in the Lord,

I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

The Lord God is my strength,

And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,

And makes me walk on my high places.

Hab. 3.17-19

This book ended challenging me to say, “Though (fill in the blank with whatever circumstance or difficulty I am facing), Yet I will exult in the Lord!