Last night I got a FaceTime call from our oldest granddaughter, Saraí Evangelina. As soon as her image came on the screen she was crying. "Grandpa, something terrible is happening!" My mind is thinking the worst! "My tooth is really loose and it's about to come out and Mommy's trying to trick me!" Whew! It is the worst thing for a seven year old to lose a tooth and I heard her cry and say that she believed her mommy was trying to take it out before its time. I said, "If Mommy ties a string to your tooth and then to the door, then she is tricking you!" Her eyes showed the horror of that thought. I could hear her mommy laughing behind her, and Grandma says, "Grandpa's going to say a prayer for you so that you can be okay." I start thinking about what to say to God about a 7 year old and a loose tooth when I hear Sarita say, "Oh, something wonderful is happening! My tooth just came out!" Indeed, wonderful. She held it up so that Grandma and I could see it. I had already prayed silently and then we all said, "Thank God, mijita!"
Our mind has the incredible capacity to run at lightening speed to the worst possible scenario which usually ends up with nothing coming true as we expected. And usually we have to say, Thank God! The same is true about jumping to conclusions without having all the facts or having time to think and reflect on what is best for all concerned. In the movie Office Space, a man stuck in what he believed to be a dead-end job kept thinking he would get rich with a game called "Jump to Conclusions" in which a mat had a list of possible conclusions on which one could jump. We know it isn't that simple. Our mind usually takes care of that if we're not careful.
The antidote for fear is faith. The outcome of all life according to the Bible is God wins. And if we're believers of God, we're on the winning team. Paul, who suffered and endured much wrote, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13). We can do the same through Christ.
