Don't Worry

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made know to God.- Philippians 4:6

One of the verses I choose to memorize before coming to Africa was Philippians 4:6. God knew exactly what He was doing when He laid this verse on my heart. God knew that after six months on the field we would find out that Julia was pregnant and we would have to learn not to worry, but rather to rest in our Heavenly Father’s arms.

There is a lot to worry about when it comes to Julia being pregnant in Africa. I worry about mosquitoes from dawn-dusk. I wonder which one of the little monster mosquitoes is carrying malaria. I worry about the heat. I worry about lack of the right nutritional foods. I worry about whether or not I will bring a disease home from the hospital which will hurt the baby. I worry about driving my moped around town; will a goat run in front of me causing me to have an accident? I worry about the chemicals I use to mop the floor. I worry about whether or not our baby will have ten fingers and ten toes. I worry about whether or not I will make a good father or whether or not I find a job in the States. The list goes on and on.

God reminds me every day, sometimes multiple times a day NOT to worry but to surrender all of my worries and concerns over to Him. I am learning to trust God. I am learning to trust God in the big areas of my life but also in the little every day activities. If God is able to place the stars in the sky, create the world in six days, sustain the world by His word, and sustain us in Africa for eight months than He can be trusted with our pregnancy. God brought us to Africa, opened Julia’s womb in part to teach us not to worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving to let our requests be made know to God.