Jimbo's Jots

“Life feels pretty good right now. But I can’t shake the feeling that the next test is just around the corner. It’s like I’m bracing for something—some hardship sent from God—that will rob me of this moment of peace.“

Woosh! That’s a heavy thought to carry. It’s something someone recently shared with me, and it struck a chord. It reminded me of a quote from a book I’m currently reading: The Age of Overwhelm: Strategies for the Long Haul by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky. The book offers practical tools for navigating anxiety and stress by encouraging a broader, long-term perspective.

Lipsky writes:

“A human’s nervous system evolved what neuroscientists call a negativity bias, which throughout our day scans for bad news, then our brain hones in on whatever feels like a perceived threat.”
(The Age of Overwhelm, p. 71)

That resonates. For many of us, even when life is going well, we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. Lipsky also shares something a teacher once told her:

“I have known many sorrows, most of which never happened.”

It’s like Charlie Brown showing up at Lucy’s psychiatry booth—life’s good, but there’s still that gloomy cloud hovering, threatening to rain.

As my client and I kept talking, I shared a verse from James 1:13 (ESV):

“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.”

I wanted to help him see that contrary to what we sometimes fear, God is not waiting for a moment of peace in our lives just to disrupt it. On the contrary, James continues in verse 17:

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

That inner negativity bias? That belief that God might send a trial just because things are going well? That’s not truth—that’s a false narrative.

The truth is this: God isn’t orchestrating anxiety. He promises His presence, His faithfulness, and His goodness in everycircumstance. That’s the story I want to live into, every day.

Be blessed! Be a blessing!