By Guest Blogger Annie Knowlton

My daughter Annie Grace has been musing about something that concerns us all…

Future – It’s one of the scariest words I know. It holds so many emotions – fear, joy, sadness, death, love – to name a few. So much is possible in the future. You might get married, graduate college, get that job promotion, ace that test, have your first kiss, or maybe look into the eyes of your child for the first time. Those are all amazing things I hope everyone gets a chance to experience. However, the future is quite mysterious. It’s full of the unknown. That’s the scary part. In fact, I think it’s the most unknown thing in the world.

In the great unknown we call “future”, you might fail that test, make the biggest regret of your life, become depressed, get a terminal disease, lose your job, file for divorce, or possibly the worst of all – lose a loved one. These are things all humans think about. But one thing all of these have in common is that they are all worries which we ponder, talk about, sometimes even (half) joke about. All of these thoughts that we have paralyze us from living. Soon they become all we think about and before long are minds are full of “what ifs”.

“What ifs” are terrible. “What if I never get married? What if my house burns down? What if I never get a job I love? What if I never find ‘the one’?” All of these thoughts come back to the future and its never-ending mystery of possibilities.

And yet, God has a solution: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” –Philippians 4:6

So, if today you’re paralyzed with worry and fear of the future…don’t be. There’s a solution for every problem, and this one’s prayer. And it doesn’t matter how small or how big the problem is because God wants you to pray to Him in “every situation”. So there’s no need to worry – if you’re a believer, God is your unconditionally loving father, and He’s got your back.