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Today is halloween!

I want to tell you a story about overcoming worry by using our home’s pumpkin creations for 2017. By the way, pumpkin carving goes back many years to Ireland. According to the folk-tale, the carving was called Jack-O-Lantern and it was first done on vegetables rather than a pumpkin. The purpose of it was to ward off bad spirits. Of course here in America, long before it was associated with Halloween, it had to do with celebrating the harvest season. Today, pumpkin carving has become nothing more than a fun activity at home between parents and kids.

Now to my story… many years ago, while I was in seminary at New Orleans, I had been studying for monster test (hence my daughter’s carving of Frankenstein). I was so concerned about passing that it showed.

By the way, I was never an ‘A’ student in high school; studying and retaining was very hard work. Nothing changed in college. I also bounced from major to major to major until I finally graduated 7 years later with a 2.7 GPA. Earning a master’s degree was no different. Maybe you can relate to my learning struggles.

One of my best friends in Seminary was Tim. Today he is a very successful pastor in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. Tim and I took many classes together. Sometimes after a test, and on our walk back to our respective apartments, he would say, “I bombed that one”, and I would say, “I think I aced it!” But strangely, when the test grades were revealed, it was usually Tim who aced the thing while I bombed out. People like Tim make me sick…

One particular day, after I had been studying really hard for a test I went to the student center for something. My concern about the test must have been evident because a student I barely knew asked me why I looked so worried (hence the carving of a concerned pumpkin below).

I answered the guy that I had been studying hard for a test but I was afraid to fail. Without hesitation, he quoted a verse to me and walked away. Those words made such a difference in my life at that moment that I later committed them to memory. They were a direct message from the Lord to me! Jesus’ right hand man Peter, wrote them.

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1Peter 5:7

In other words, God saying, “Hey, its going to be cool; I got you. I’m aware and interested in what’s happening to you. Chill…and trust Me!”

I can’t tell you today whether I made an ‘A’ or a ‘C’ on that test. I may have made a ‘D’, I honestly don’t remember but it doesn’t matter. I passed the course went went on to earn the degree.

Now, isn’t it true that the things we often worry about most never come to pass?

And, isn’t it true that most of our blunders never create permanent damage?

Things happen, good and bad. Life throws us all kinds of curves that leave us on edge. But the greatest thing about knowing the Lord is that He knows us and loves in spite of all.   Please allow me to share another verse with you from an old prophet by the name of Isaiah,

“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
    I’ve called your name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
    When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
    it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
    The Holy of Israel, your Savior. Isaiah 43:1-3, MSG

Because of God’s love we can be like cool cats (hence the carved image below), even when under pressure.

The End!

Thanks for reading. Please leave me a comment.