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In Acts 20, Paul warns the early church of “wolves,” who will come in among them to cause disruption and draw them away from Christ. We discussed these wolves recently in the ladies’ Bible study I attend. Of course, these are metaphorical wolves that present themselves in a bold or even subtle way, attempting to put up an infinite number of barriers between us and God.

I often feel like those wolves are out to devour my time with God. I never see any snarling teeth or hear vicious growling, but these wolves come in the form of texts, phone calls, to-do lists, worries on my mind, and the lure of social media.

Whenever I perceive the wolf prowling around to consume my time with God, I first seek the peace of His presence. I picture myself sitting at His feet, ready to receive His word. Then, I ask for His help keeping the wolf at bay so that my time with Him is uninterrupted.

At the beach recently, I saw a woman lying in the sand, just at the surf’s edge. I thought maybe she had fallen at first, but she was fine. She was more than fine; she was living her best life, relaxing and letting the waves gently nudge her body to and fro. I thought I would love to be that level of unbothered. But events happening in the world these days made me think that being unbothered is nearly impossible, which bothered me.

I sat in my beach chair and pondered what was bothering me and why. Was it something out of my control? Were they things that don’t actually matter? Things out of my control? Something I’ve prayed about? Giving what bothers you to God is a gigantic step in becoming unbothered. God wants us to lay our worries and fears at His feet.

Beyond unbothered, you can be joyful. A relationship with your Heavenly Father can bring a deep-seated joy that is not dependent on your circumstances. You are a child of God and have the promise of eternal life in His glorious kingdom. When the waves of this world nudge you to and fro or even knock you down, God wants us to give our worries to Him, remind ourselves of the joy we hold deep inside, and look past the waves to Him with an eternal perspective.