I love gardening. There is a community garden at the lighthouse where my bride Di and I spend some of our free time growing carrots, broccoli, mustard greens, beans, tomatoes, rosemary, thyme, oregano, cilantro and sunflowers.

We especially enjoy the community part of it, exchanging with the other gardeners, and greeting tourists walking up to the lighthouse. Gardening can be very calming.

The light and love of nature God gives us can feel so good, so Jesus used a lot of images from it. What we feed and nurture grows. Part of that is to keep the weeds under control as well as we can.

Then, when things grow and transform, there is great joy. Those sweet little cherry tomatoes are delightful, the Asian mustard greens add spice to every dish, and the carrots are crunchy, orange and full of good stuff.

In the garden the world is in harmony. While the gardener does some work, the success actually is in God’s hands. The birds, bees and all the creatures of creation, especially the beautiful butterflies show us the happy-go-lucky dance of life to restore our faith with fun and fervour.

It is important to remember the good and positive when we get weary. It is true, we live in scary times. For many of us, our personal and communal future seems so unpredictable, and world politics can scare you when you watch the news.

There are so many issues that seem to be out of control, at least out of our control. However, I believe and know for sure God is still in control. He’s got the whole world in his hands. Isn’t that good to know?

That can be a great relief. We don’t have to rescue and save the world. Christ did. We don’t have to let the sun rise tomorrow, God took care of that already. It is all in His hands. We do our best and leave the rest. We can work at being more friendly and positive and less perfect and be focused in love.

Unfortunately, the body’s defence system for danger is in the least smart part of the brain, the often so-called reptilian brain. This defence system worked well for cave men and cave women. It pumps adrenalin into the blood system to find strength to fight or flight.

However, in our modern world there are so many sensations that can be perceived as danger and we get stuck in stress reactions. That can lead to chronic stress with symptoms like physical or mental irritability and inflammation and at the same time it slows down reason and logical thinking.

With 24/7 news from all over the world, with social media alerts, honking horns in traffic, or even conflict in relationship and family, we are bombarded with stress reactions. So one strategy can be, instead of feeding us with more and more “news feeds”, reduce the intake!

Discover JOMO, the joy of missing out. Take news in small portions: read the paper, and then put it to the side and focus on the people around you. Turn off the TV or radio news and rather surround yourself with people.

With Valentine’s Day coming closer, maybe practise to tell and show people that you care and love. Hug your children, spouse or even a friend in a healthy, light-hearted way. Praise others for doing something nice or beautiful. Wave at those who collect our garbage or fix our roads, but please without honking your horn.

Call people that mean something to you, and have a conversation rather than messaging back and forth. Take time for a cup of coffee or tea with your spouse, friend or neighbour and praise the Lord that there are still times when we are off together. In actual case, the base of most of our fears is the fear of being left alone. So seek community. That is one of the main reasons for Christ wanting the Church for us.

We can trust God and his love and pass it on to the people around us. If the creator of the universe is on your side, what could really happen? Sing a song, listen to music, read something edifying. Overcome fear with love.

Try to smile at problems, rather than to let them get you out of shape. Sure, one can get upset about other drivers, but it won’t change their driving. It will just make you feel worse.

Instead you can simply smile and let them go their way. We all make mistakes and it feels good not to be constantly judged by others for every mishap. Help others who are in need and there will be help for you when you end up in a difficult situation.

Christ told us in Matthew, 6:25-34 (New International Version): “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these.

“If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

“For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

It can be very freeing to realise that God is still there even in times of uncertainty. That is why AA groups around the world have learnt a simple prayer known as the Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

So where can we make a difference? We can listen to loneliness leaking out in our lives and the lives of others and learn to listen, not just giving quick fix advise, but really listen so that we create a caring connection which can bring hope, joy and peace into their hearts.

We can leave our worry with God, just as we read in Philippians, 4:6-7 (NIV): “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Let’s be prayerful, intentional, more hopeful, more believing, more active in all our interactions, more caring and friendly, smiling with the peace that transcends all understanding, burdens and weariness.

• Karsten Decker is a German theologian with a double degree equivalent to an MTheol and MDiv. He studied in Marburg (Germany), Knoxville (USA), and Toronto (Canada) and comes from a united church of Lutheran and Reformed Churches. He was the pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Bermuda from 2010 to 2017, and after returning from Germany is now the temporary pulpit supply at Centenary Untied Methodist Church in Smith’s