After a winding 4-hour drive through the Himachal Pradesh roads, we came close to our destination in Chail. We finally found the way down into the valley where our Airbnb was located. They sent Sahil on his bike to escort us. As we crawled down the steep incline with our heavily loaded Maruti 800 (a great little car with an 800cc engine), I was already worrying about how we were ever going to get back up again.

There was a lot of walking and running to be done, and generally the attempt was to do as little work as possible. It was my daughter, visiting from Italy, my son, my wife, and I—trying to get a break from the oppressive heat and humidity, and more importantly, from work and the constant worrying that comes with it. But I found myself being distracted by that uphill drive going back.

I went running to explore alternative routes and thought I had found one, but there was a very tricky part where the road had been eroded on one side on a steep incline. The other downside to that route was that it was strictly one-way, with several downhills preceding the uphill—making it nearly impossible to return.

And so I worried. It was just a little nagging voice, subconsciously holding back the full relaxation I so desperately craved. I tried to remind myself of the verse in Philippians 4 (NLT):

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

A key to following this teaching is to pray. Just knowing the verse doesn’t give peace—but talking to God does.

Eventually, I did pray, and it helped somewhat. But one also needs to have faith. And my faith wasn’t quite there. When His disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith, He responded by saying that if they had faith as small as a mustard seed, they could command a mulberry tree to uproot itself and throw itself into the sea—and it would obey.

This morning, before attempting that daring drive, it rained, and everything was wet and more slippery than usual. I told Sahil that I was worried. He smiled and confidently said he would drive it out for me. He had a car just like that and was used to it. Was this my answer from God?

And so it was. I let him do it—and it was indeed very easy. With the relief came also a twinge of regret: that I had allowed something so small to taint an otherwise beautiful getaway.

So here are the lessons learned: I should have talked to God earlier. I should have trusted God more. And I was reminded—God always helps, sometimes by sending someone.

What is worrying you today? Is there anything stealing your joy? Give it to God. He knows what you need. He will help you find a way.

Even a tiny bit of faith in God will be enough.