One of the biggest impacts that technology has had on our lives is in the home. From the invention of seemingly ordinary appliances now, like toasters and kettles, to the increasing popularity of smart homes, many of us are enjoying an easier and more efficient home life. Products like Nest promise to deliver safer, more economical and eco-friendly homes. Lots of us have now got smart meters that digitally measure, rather than guesstimate, our utility costs.

All well and good, but what happens when they go wrong? The BBC posted this article last week about smart meters that have gone wrong; showing that customers owe thousands of pounds. One lady’s “meter stated she was on £36,448.29 for the week – far beyond the daily £3.80 her family usually use.” That’s quite a difference!

Thankfully, she contacted the company that supplied them and they clarified the error. Imagine the moment that she first saw that number though. £36k for a week is a lot of money – at least for most of us! We’ve all had those moments, faced with something that makes us feel the cold shower of fear.

The doctor looking us in the eye and telling us that unfortunately the blood results weren’t good.

Your partner nervously saying that they need to talk to you.

The envelope from the bank or credit card company marked “LAST CHANCE” in warning red.

My family have a saying: “If the phone rings after 10.30pm, it’s never good news.” That’s sad, but often true. Weeping often comes in the evening.

Our first response to these situations is often fear. Fear of what will come. Fear that we haven’t got enough – enough money, enough courage, enough faith. That’s why the Bible is filled with God telling us to “Fear Not”; we just get scared so easily. I’m not minimising your situations here, life does have some scary moments. Some of you will be going through circumstances that seem totally desperate and this isn’t a blog post designed to dismiss those as trivial.

But for some of us, we have fearful moments every day. We live in constant anxiety and dread, with an expectation of things going wrong in the worst possible way. Without any of the facts, the mere suggestion of bad news is enough to send us into a spiral of despair.

To those of you, I want to remind you about Jane Allen from Portsmouth and her Smart Meter. It looked really bad but it wasn’t. Sometimes it isn’t what it looks like. You think the circumstances are overwhelming but actually they aren’t. The worry feels consuming but it’s based on a worst case scenario that you don’t have the facts about yet.

If that resonates with you, then we’d love to pray with you. Our prayer centre is open for your calls, 8am-8pm, Monday-Friday and until 12pm on Saturdays. Why not call us on 0300 561 0700?