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Visiting Vancouver Island, B.C., was a time of anxiety for me.  When I snapped this calming picture of sailboats in Courtenay, British Columbia, Colorado Springs was on the verge of going up in smoke. While Janice and I enjoyed some time of refreshment, friends were worried about their homes surviving due to the Waldo Canyon fire.

Courtenay, British Columbia

For me this was a quick lesson on the unproductive nature of worry.

There was nothing I could do since I was miles away, even when my son called me, panicked because he had to close the restaurant at which he worked.  The restaurant was under mandatory evacuation as the flames raced down the mountain toward his store carried by hurricane force winds.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4:6 New Living Translation

There were many prayers offered to our benevolent God when the fire seemed ready to devour our community.  There were also many prayers of thanksgiving for those who put themselves in harms way to keep the beast contained.

Prayer is an amazing antidote to anxiety for our prayers do not fall on deaf ears, but on the ears of the one who emptied heaven of his Son that we might no longer be consumed with worry.

Copyright Douglas P. Brauner