We have a sad question today, Pastor John, from a friend of ours in Southern California.

Pastor John, hello to you. We lost our home in the California fires this past November, and many

others lost their homes in the much larger fires in the L.A. area in January.

In the face of this devastation, we are struggling with worry about the future,

whether we'll be able to rebuild, whether insurance will cover our losses, and what will happen

when our equity is exhausted by these fires. I've been praying for wisdom, and I'm deeply

thankful that God hears our prayers and gives generously without reproach. However, in the midst of so much

uncertainty, I'm still grappling with anxiety about how we can move forward and what the future holds.

Could you offer guidance to those of us struggling with fear about our future in times of deep loss?

Anxiety is always about the future, even though the causes of it can be in the past.

So, thousands of people lost virtually all their material possessions in the fires in California.

I know of one family personally personally whose house was totally destroyed.

I mean, nothing left.

And they lost irreplaceable, precious things, all destroyed.

One thing to count dollars, it's another thing to count treasures.

So the anxiety that we might lose our house in the fire as it was coming is over.

We did.

That's not an anxiety anymore.

It's history.

It's pain.

It's grief.

It's loss.

...