Recently, I was talking with a guy who who was worried about a situation coming up in his life. It had him really upset. Of course he was imagining the worst possible outcome for his particular situation.

So I proposed an alternate outcome for him. A good one. Then I asked him, “If you knew that’s what was going to happen, would you still be nervous?”

He answered “no.”

So I asked him, “How do you know what I described won’t happen?”

Isn’t that the way it is when we’re feeling nervous, worried or anxious about some situation? We automatically assume the worst possible outcome.

I’m going to look bad. I’m going to fail. I’m going to embarrass myself. I’m going to humiliate myself. I’m going to get hurt. I’m going to ____________. Just fill in the blank for you.

One of our major problems is our inability to even identify the thoughts that lead to our negative emotions. It’s almost as if our thoughts become this unrecognizable mental stew of discouragement. We lose sight of the wrong thoughts that lead to our wrong feelings, so all we have to focus on are the wrong feelings.

The feelings didn’t appear out of thin air. You created them with your thoughts.

The negative feelings then take on a life of their own. We feel nervous, then worried, then anxious, then afraid. We feel it mentally, emotionally and physically. The thoughts, the feelings, the physical sensations start feeding on each other and make us feel worse and worse.

You’ve been there. So have I.

Now I’m not suggesting we’ll never feel nervous or worried. I’d love to think I could get to that place, but it’s not going to happen. Not in this life anyway.

But I do believe we can see enough victory that our negative emotions don’t over-power us, so that we’re gripped with panic or fear most of the day.

It begins with our thoughts. Our thoughts determine our feelings. You can’t change your feelings without changing your thoughts. That’s why it’s so important to have a right view of God and your circumstances.

In 2 Kings 6:24-7:20, the city of Samaria is surrounded by an enemy army. Supply lines have been cut off. The city is suffering through a famine. It’s a bad one. People are eating donkey heads, bird poop (I’m not making this up) and their own children.

One day, a prophet tells the king that on the following day, the famine will be over and food will be plentiful. Today, severe famine. Tomorrow, more food than you can eat. One day.

There’s no way the people could have anticipated how God was going to pull it off. If you’re not familiar with the story, you’ve got to read it.

If the people had known God was going to lift the famine the following day–do you think they still would have felt fear and desperation? No way! They would have been anticipating an end to their suffering and a great feast to celebrate!

I don’t know what tomorrow will bring for you. Neither do you. So why anticipate the worst? Why not anticipate God’s blessing and favor?

If it doesn’t come tomorrow, then anticipate it for the next day…and the next day.

What alternative do you have? Continue to anticipate more problems and difficulties for which you see no solution? I’ve tried that. It’s not good.

This isn’t a naive, “stick-your-head-in-the-sand” way of living. It’s simply a choice to believe God can and will do whatever is necessary to turn your situation around. And if your circumstances don’t change the way you’d like them to, you have the promise of God’s peace and comfort. Under no circumstances, must we feel anxious and afraid.

You can anticipate the worst or you can anticipate God’s best. Doing the latter isn’t easy and requires constant effort, but isn’t it better than feeding on the mental stew of discouragement?