I loved tent camping with my family. I liked being all piled up in the minivan with my two sisters and all the camping gear. I liked the feeling of pulling into the campsite late in the evening, coming out of the van, and being transported into a magical place. This time the weather was perfect, and we had beach adventures planned for the next day. The tent was in a small clearing encircled by maple or oak trees with branches stretching towards us. As the five of us climbed into the tent, I was quickly fast asleep. Sometime during the night, I woke up to the sound of rain. My brain, suddenly awake, began to work through all the things that could go wrong. What if the rain came into the tent? What would we do tomorrow? Would our walk to the beach be ruined? How would we cook our food in the morning? Would we all be freezing? I continued through my spiral of worries until, eventually, I fell into a fitful sleep for the rest of the night.

In the morning, we came out of the tent, and everything was dry; not a sign of a drop of rain anywhere. The picnic table was dry. The dirt on the ground was dry. The trees were dry. Completely confused now, I turned back towards the tent. That was when I noticed the caterpillars. Covering the roof of our tent were hundreds and hundreds of fuzzy, yellow caterpillars. As I looked at them, a caterpillar slipped off one of the branches stretching into the campsite and tumbled down with a plop onto the top of the tent. It had rained that night. It had rained caterpillars.

Even as adults, we do the same thing. We see a sign that something might be amiss, and our minds begin a worry spiral. We think of all the things that could go wrong and those thoughts trigger other worries, which trigger more concerns. It doesn’t take much for us to lose control of it all. When we’re in this place, we miss out on sleep, joy and peace. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Scripture tells us to “be still” (Psalm 46:10), to “cast our anxiety on Him” (1 Peter 5:7) and to “not worry” (Matt. 6:25). These are familiar verses, but they fall short if we do not also include the why in each verse. We can be still because God is in control. We are not floundering on our own. He is still on the throne. We can cast our anxiety on Him because He cares for us. He cares for us so deeply that He wants us to give Him our worries and anxieties. We do not need to worry because He considers us valuable. Next time you find yourself on a worry spiral, remember the truth that you are not abandoned; you are cared for and you are valuable. And maybe it will turn out that the rain was just caterpillars. 

Worry-Free

• What are some worries you currently have? Journal them down. It can be helpful to get spiral thoughts out of our heads and see them in writing.
• Consider breath prayer. As you breathe in, say an attribute of God or a name for the Lord. As you breathe out, speak your worry. Example: Breathe in—“God who cares”; Breathe out—“Remind me of your presence.” Breathe each breath for a full five beats. 

Supporting Scripture

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” – 1 Peter 5:7

This article was originally titled “Caterpillar Rain” in the November 2024 issue of The War Cry.