Do you remember the song “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands”? Recently I was reminded of this song. As we approach Thanksgiving time, your world may be going in many different directions. You are going here and there, preparing for this and that. Then, on top of it all, your family is facing some difficult challenges as the holiday season approaches and worries start to overcome you.

Worries come at a price. That is why God warns us, “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Matthew 6:25-27, ESV).

I wonder how often Esther might have lost sleep as she lay with the king who was being manipulated to destroy her people. If she lost sleep and became anxious over her circumstances, it’s likely she would not have been very wise, as her body and mind would have suffered. She would have been too distracted and exhausted to petition the king as she did.

Without Esther’s clear mind, Haman’s plot to destroy the Jews might have succeeded. Esther was full of wisdom, saying, “If it pleases the king” (Esther 5:3). By the end of the story, Esther was successful in her request. She was not consumed with worries or doubts about her God. I believe she rested well, knowing God would take care of her. He had—and still has—the whole world in His hands.

If you believe God has the whole world in His hands, then you must believe God has YOUR world in His hands. The whole world is turning and turning under His control. Now imagine God’s strong, powerful hands holding your hands upward. If God has the whole world, surely He has sight of your loved one and the situation that is presenting you with your worries and keeping you up in turmoil.

As you enter this Thanksgiving season, ponder the sweet truth that “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds” (Philippians 4:7).

He who thanks but with the lips
Thanks but in part;
The full, the true Thanksgiving
Comes from the heart.
~J.A. Shedd