It was a question — a simple question posed by my niece Amber — that plucked a scene from my past and put it in the center of my thoughts: “What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

And suddenly, at that 6 a.m. prayer service, a trip down memory lane led to a scene from my childhood.

I remembered debating whether or not to enter a competition. Although I have long forgotten the type of competition, I clearly recalled my dad’s question: “What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

“Losing,” I said.

“And even if you lose, your family will still love you and God will still love you.”

Amber brought my thoughts back to the present when she said that as we process things in life, it’s important not to get stuck on the worst case scenario.

If we focus our thoughts on loss, death or failure, we will be paralyzed with fear.

We should move past the fear and focus on faith.

She shared her own recent experience with that question.

When she realized her own worst case scenario, she felt God tell her, “No, the worst thing would be going through that without Me.”

Again, my thoughts traveled to the past, when my daughter Elise, then 10 years old, was receiving chemotherapy after a diagnosis of lymphoma. She asked me, “How do people go through this without Jesus?”

My answer then, and my answer today, remains the same: “I can’t imagine. I never want to go through anything without Him.”

I’m going to close this column with the same verse Amber used to wrap up her prayer message with Psalm 112:7, “They will have no fear of bad news, their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”

Ronny Michel may be reached at rmichel@rtconline.com.