What a Wonderful World?

What a Wonderful World?

The Bible is full of encouragements: “Do not be afraid.” “Do not be anxious.” “Fear not.” Scripture reminds us that God is with us, even when we walk through dark valleys. These are verses I often return to, and words I’ve written many blogs on.

Recently, my youngest daughter came home from school singing a song she had learnt—Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds:

“Don’t worry about a thing,
‘Cause every little thing is gonna be alright.”

It’s a comforting sentiment. But if I’m honest, I do worry. I am anxious. I am afraid.

I worry about being alone. About loneliness.

I worry about my children—I want the very best for them.

I’m afraid when I look at the world, at the leadership of the American President, at the ongoing war in Ukraine.

I worry about my family—their health, their struggles, their future.

I worry about the people I work with and serve—those facing homelessness, those searching for hope.

There’s a lot on my mind.

But please hear me clearly: I don’t write these reflections for sympathy. I write because putting my thoughts into words helps me process them. And maybe my reflections might help someone else too.

I heard an excellent sermon at church on Sunday, which included the story of Elijah. 

In 1 Kings 19, we find Elijah exhausted, fearful, and overwhelmed. He has done all that God asked of him, but now he is running for his life. He collapses under a bush, ready to give up. He has nothing left.

And yet, God is faithful. God acts.

Elijah doesn’t get a lecture on why he shouldn’t feel the way he does. Instead, he is given rest. He is given food and drink. He is given what he needs to continue.

It’s easy to say, “Don’t be anxious. Don’t worry. Everything is going to be alright.” But that isn’t always our experience.

Instead, I have another song running through my head. Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World:

“I see skies of blue,
And clouds of white,
The bright blessed day,
The dark sacred night.”

The world is full of worry. But the world is also full of wonder.

“The colours of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky,
Are also on the faces of people going by.”

Perhaps, irrespective of how we feel, we can look to the sky and see the beauty of creation—the colours of the rainbow, the vastness of the heavens—and be reminded of God’s covenant.

It doesn’t take away the anxiety. It doesn’t erase the fear.

But it does remind us of God’s faithfulness. And maybe, for today, that’s enough.

And I think to myself, ‘What a wonderful world’.