The Switch

“Worry is a conversation you have with yourself about things you cannot change. Prayer is a conversation you have with God about things He can change.”

I read that somewhere, printed it out, and it’s near my desk.

Do I still worry? Yep.

Why, I ask myself.

Because there’s lots of stuff to worry about, I answer. Kids (even though they’re grown with kids of their own—but hey, in my mind they’re still five), the state of the world, the state of my health, the state of my finances.

Need I go on?

So how do I stop worrying? Probably won’t happen.

But here’s the thing. There’s a switch in my brain that was planted when I was fourteen, specifically on June 23, 1968, that I can flip whenever I want. I have the power to leave it off or turn it on.

That switch is non-descript, plain, and it’s cloaked. I know it’s there, I can visualize it, but no one else can. You know, like on Star Trek? In the future, according to Gene Roddenberry, we will have the capability to render stuff invisible by pushing a button. Cool, huh?

This switch is easily within my reach. But I can’t just think it on or off. I have to actually put my finger on it (so to speak—it is in my brain, you know…) and either push it up (on) or down (off).

I know, I know, you want to know what this switch is for. Okay, I’ll tell you—because you’ll want to look for your own. Oh, you didn’t know you had the switch? You do if you know the Maker of the switch.

When I begin the cycle of worry about whatever, if I flip the switch to ON, I am immediately beamed into His throne room. I raise my head and there He is, waiting patiently for me.

Now I have a choice. It’s fascinating to me that He created Choice. It was a risky thing for Him to do, right? That’s another subject, though.

My choice is this: once prostrate at His feet, I can start talking things over with Him…or, flip the switch to OFF and go on talking to myself about the fearful whatevers in my life.

Once I flip that switch to OFF . . .

. . . I’m immediately back in my little office, staring out the window and wondering what in the world can possibly happen to me next.

Every time, every time—when I choose to leave the Prayer Switch on, worry turns tail and runs.

Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!