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Day 42: When Things Go Wrong




April 26, 2020

One of the most negative statements I have ever heard is called “Murphy’s Law”.   It says: “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”  What a terrible mantra to have coursing around in one’s head.  I don’t know anything about Mr. Murphy, but I bet he never made lemonade out of lemons or saw the silver lining in any cloud.  I decided to “Google him” and I was wrong.  It turns out that Captain Edward A. Murphy was part of a research team trying to see how much G-force a human could endure, to discover if pilots could safely eject from high velocity aircraft.  The concept of “Murphy’s Law” was applied from the aspect of thinking up all that could go wrong, so that they could fix it before it did.  So, it was not a negative statement, it was a positive “attack” on the possible bad outcomes.  I try to not go around looking for “what can go wrong” but I do tend to plan and prepare for the possibility.  For me, personally, hoping without doing is called worrying.  Hoping things will turn out all right is fine.  Putting my trust in God is, of course, the correct answer.  But I also cannot just sit around and not use the resources and abilities that God has provided me.  So, I pray while I do things.  It keeps my worry and anxiety at bay.  And when I sit down after a long busy day, I feel like I “made the most” of the day God gave me.  God does not want us to worry.  He will provide for us.  He has a plan for our lives.  So, whether we gain our peace from prayer and meditation, from gardening, reading, cleaning house, running, surfing (like my cousin, Karen), playing games or some combination of all of the above, as long as we turn the worries over to God, we can live each day to the fullest with the least amount of anxiety.  And when things do go wrong, we are right where we need to be.  Close to God.  Isaiah 26:3 says: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”  And in Luke 12:25-26 the Bible says: “And besides, what’s the use of worrying? What good does it do? Will it add a single day to your life? Of course not! And if worry can’t even do such little things as that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?”  Luke 12:30-31: “Your heavenly Father knows your needs. He will always give you all you need from day to day if you will make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.”  Murphy’s Law is a little scary.  God’s promises bring us peace.  Smile and be joyful!

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