I was in the middle of a counseling session years ago after a painful breakup pouring my deepest worries out to my counselor, “What if I lost something good? What if the pain never goes away? What if I never heal? What if I never get married?” I was getting more and more worked up when she stopped me mid-sentence and asked me something that forever changed my perspective on worry, “What if?”. I shockingly replied, “Exactly, WHAT IF! What if all these worries turn into realities? That is why I’m here!”

She then kindly responded, “I understand all of that, but I am only hearing your worst-case what ifs, I have yet to hear your best-case what ifs.” Confused, I said, “Well that would be silly, I wouldn’t worry if I thought of the best-case what ifs”. “BINGO!”, she said.

Worry is fixating on the potential problems of the future, while fixating on the potential goodness of the future eliminates worry entirely – and although worry gives the illusion of control, Jesus explains in Luke that worry adds nothing to your life. In fact, it takes life away from you.

“Does worry add anything to your life? Can it add one more year, or even one day? So if worrying adds nothing, but actually subtracts from your life, why would you worry about God’s care of you?” Luke 12:25-31 TPT

But while God is on mission to help you find the abundant “worry-free” life, the enemy is also on mission to do the exact opposite.

“A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect—life in its fullness until you overflow” John 10:10 TPT

If the enemy can’t destroy you, he will distract you and he distracts by keeping you busy with things that don’t matter. Maybe you’ve heard this acronym for busy: Being Under Satan’s Yoke. If he can keep you busy with worry, he doesn’t have to destroy you, you will destroy yourself.

But there is good news! We have power over our enemy. We have power over our worry. We have power over our thought life and what we believe about the future. It’s not going to come naturally, but it is more than possible to experience victory on this side of heaven! It just takes time, practice, and the word of God.

“We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One.” 2 Corinthians 10:5 TPT

Stop believing the lies that the worst is going to happen and start believing the truth that God is up to something good, because He is!

“So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together for good, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose” Romans 8:28 TPT

So, what can we do? I love practical help because this all sounds great, right? But as we know we aren’t transformed my knowledge alone but applied knowledge.  I learned to flip my thoughts from worry into worship and it greatly transformed my thoughts and therefore my life.

I started with an inventory. You can’t fix a problem you haven’t identified. In my phone notepad I wrote down every worst-case what if I had about my future, next to that I wrote the exact opposite best-case what if, and next to that a scripture to back up every lie the enemy had me believing:

What if I lost something good?

What if I lost something that was blocking my something good?

Romans 8:28

What if the pain never goes away?

What if I experience a deep closeness with God through my pain?

Psalm 34:18

What if I never heal?

What if God uses my journey of healing to help others?

Matthew 9:37

What if I never get married?

What if God uses the wait to strengthen me?

Isaiah 40:31

What if I go through another painful breakup?

What if the next one I meet is my future spouse?

James 1:17

Now when the enemy shows up with lies about my future, I remind him who is really in control.

Can I pray for you?

God, thank you for this beautiful sister and friend. Thank you that you care for her so deeply that you sent your son to die so that she could have a relationship with you. We pray that you help her worried mind and bless her with a peace that surpasses all understanding. We know that the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but you came so that we could have a full abundant life not just in heaven but here now, so we thank you for your peace that is accessible now. God be with her as she takes inventory of her thoughts and makes them submit to you. Give her the strength to turn her worry into worship and allow her life and her testimony to help others who worry. We ask for all of this in your name, AMEN.

A bit about the author:

Hello sister and friend! I’m Kayla Nordlum! I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon and now live in the beautiful state of Arizona, where the sun really never stops shining!

My story might be similar to yours, for years life felt empty, confusing and disappointing. Unmet expectations left me stuck and hopeless. I struggled to trust that God had good plans for my future because I constantly replayed the mess I made of my past. BUT GOD.

Through a personal relationship with Jesus I realized it was never about what I did or what I would do, but everything to do with what He could do through me. I decided to fully surrender to the Lord in May of 2020. Through my act of obedience, I watched toxic relationship cycles end and negative mindsets slowly transform. God finally had my FULL heart and life was now EXCITING. I had vision, passion and purpose that I could not come up with on my own.

In August of 2020, I started a business called Worth More Co. (@worthmoreco). A space to remind women to never settle in life, love, or faith + it’s been so amazing to see what God has done and what he is doing with this sweet little community, PLUS I create fun merch, and who doesn’t love that?!

Writing has always been healing for me, I have journaled almost daily since I was young, but I never felt qualified to write for others (doesn’t God always use those people?) In January of 2021, I got serious about writing my first book (“The One That God Away”) and it’s almost ready to be released! God is so faithful and kind, He really has the best redemptive stories!

Now more than ever I know that with God THERE IS MORE + I’m super passionate about helping women find the MORE in their stories too.

XO