There’s a lot of fear right now in Dallas (and other places in the country) about the Ebola virus.

When thinking about scary thing, scripture helps immensely but so do pictures of puppies. This is mine.

And for good reason! We seem to be getting conflicting signals and information: people are getting it that really shouldn’t be, and yes, it can be (and is frequently) fatal. And even if it doesn’t kill you, it’s an awful, awful disease.

So yeah, that’s scary, right?? I’m a mom and when I read the headlines I can go there, too. Seriously, deeply, go there.

But I’m not going to. And I hope you don’t, either. And not because it’s not scary. It’s because there are so many things out there can kill you or your kids. Let’s make a list, shall we??

• drunk drivers
• cancer
• asthma
• diabetes
• school shootings
• drug overdose
• depression

Left the last one blank because you can fill something in there, I bet. Something that runs in your family that doesn’t run in mine, something specific to your situation that can keep you up at night, terrified.

And I don’t want to Jesus Juke you (see this definition but be forewarned, once you know the definition you see it EVERYWHERE;), but I’m gonna go ahead and quote him.

“Can any of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life?” Matthew 6:37.

Or how about this one:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, make your requests known to God.” Phil 4:7 (OK, that one was Paul but the dude wrote it from prison so he wasn’t exactly care free at the time. Seems like he might have known of what he spoke).

Maybe you’re more of an Old Testament person. OK, let’s go to Isaiah 41:10:

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous hand.”

There’s a lot of bad that CAN happen. Heck, there’s already been a lot of bad that’s happened to me. More than you would probably think. And I’ll bet you’ve had a lot bad happen to you, too.

But worrying about it didn’t keep it from happening. And worrying about Ebola won’t make it go away. It will turn it into a big monster that will keep you up at night and cause you to fret and overeat and over drink and over think (or maybe that’s just me?).

So we’re all gonna breath. We’re going to be smart. We’re going to find moments of peace, and joy and beauty. And we’re going to pray that God gives us peace.

May the God of Comfort be there for all of us.

Happy running.

Jen