Drivers have many things to worry about while living out on the road. At home, our loved ones also have a tendency to worry about us while we are gone. They don’t know where we are at every given moment. They are concerned about our eating habits and our sleep time not to mention our safety while traveling up and down the highways. Stay in contact with them and share your cares and concerns. This way, no one has to carry their worries alone. It will help you both feel better while you are gone. Even if you don’t have loved ones waiting for you at home, please don’t forget someone cares for you. Give us a call. Comment here.

Now days, it seems like we all keep pretty strict schedules. There are lots of things that have to be done today, this week and this month. Then there is the honey do list that is longer than I care to talk about Now throw in romantic time with our spouse, quality time with our children and occasional recreational time for ourselves. Finally, there are always miscellaneous things that fill the rest of our time if we have any available. Our days are full. We could very easily get bogged down worrying if we’ll ever get it all done, but don’t. Do what you can today and leave the rest to finish tomorrow. Then do the same thing again tomorrow. Don’t worry, tomorrow will come soon enough. Comment here.

Today, it is easier to get directions to shipper and receiver locations because of technology. We now have MapQuest, Google Earth, Streets and Trips, and of course GPS. Do you find yourself still getting lost with these new devices? I have been given wrong directions from a GPS device. Nothing is fool proof. When you get lost on your route, it is easy to get frustrated. Frustration leads to anger and then worry accompanies both of them all along the way. The same thing happens when you get lost in life. If life gives you a detour, don’t worry. Work your way through it, get help if you need, and get back on the original route. We’d be glad to help. Comment here.

You love it when those weigh stations signs say “Open.” Yeah, right! There’s a good reason for these scales. I know you might argue with me on that point. When your truck is overweight, the D.O.T. worries that your truck might create damage to the highways. We all need to work together to keep the highways safe. Our lives are the same way. When we are overloaded, we run the threat of doing some damage. There are times that we need help with our load. What do you do when you get overloaded? Who do you turn to? Please don’t worry about your load. Get help today. Comment here.

The other day, while observing a truck being started up, I noticed the exhaust pouring out of the eight inch stacks. The smoke went straight up in the air. You know, troubles and difficulties in our lives are just like that smoke. As soon as they start, the “smoke” rises up from them. It’s almost guaranteed. It’s not a matter of if we have trials, but a matter of when and what will we do with them when they appear. Do you worry yourself to sleep at night? Worry won’t really help you get through it. It will only guarantee that you’ll be miserable during the trial. What do you do when you face trouble? Comment here.

I know a couple of gentlemen that live and breathe by the Wall Street Journal. It’s the first thing they read every morning. They also receive updates every hour, on the hour to see how their stocks are doing. Needless to say, these guys are very worried right now and have been for quite some time. Have you heard the expression “Where your treasure is there will your heart be also?” Well, since these fellas have their “treasure” invested in Wall Street , their hearts are just as low as their fortunes are. That’s because it really doesn’t matter where, what or who your treasure is, that’s literally where your heart or thoughts will focus. If you’re worried, maybe it's time to change what you treasure. We can help. Comment here.

We live in difficult times. The stock exchange has dropped, the cost of living is up, the housing market has crashed, unemployment rates are up and there is a general uncertainty over the economy across the country. Do you find yourself worrying? Maybe these things don’t bother you; maybe you worry about other things like your family. Whatever the reasons, worry steals an enormous amount of time from your life. There’s not enough time to go around as it is. I can guarantee that you cannot add a single hour to your life by worrying about these issues. Instead, focus and trust in something that brings you hope and joy. What is it you find joy in? Comment here.

“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” (Matthew 6:31,32).

“Worry is the darkroom where negatives are developed.”

Worry is the result of failing to practice active faith in God’s constant care over us. Our faith must be active and constant, for when there’s a lapse worry can wrap its tentacles around our heart. And we know that can lead to negativity and fear.

The source of worry for our Lord’s initial hearers in the Sermon on the Mount are objects familiar to us: food, drink, and clothing. However the issue was not “What shall we eat or drink or wear?” in the sense of choosing between a variety of abundant food choices or what style of clothing to wear from many choices in a large wardrobe.

No, much of the world has no idea of what it’s like to have a large wardrobe or an abundant food pantry. Jesus is speaking of basic necessities, not luxuries. Thus He is speaking of legitimate concerns His initial hearers had. But much of our anxiety is prompted from the desire that things should happen as we wish and for our pleasure and comfort rather than fundamentally as God wills for our growth and maturity.

Worry leads to fear and doubt, but trust leads to peace and confidence. “Worry” translates a Greek word (merimnao) that has the sense of turning over and over in the mind, or being divided. It seems to me that the division in our minds that precedes worry is fundamentally this: “Will God take care of my needs or will He be negligent in His promises?”

But Jesus said that our heavenly Father knows what we need and the Apostle Paul wrote: “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Is that true or not?

Is God ever exasperated? Does He ever throw up His hands at a situation and proclaim: “O my, what am I going to do now?” Of course not! He’s always in complete control even though we, in our finite understanding, are not always able to comprehend His ways or timing. When I read of events such as the huge earthquake in China and the scores of deaths and suffering souls I pray and really wonder how it all works out.

But faith ultimately requires that we trust God and wait to see how it will all work out for good. And we just may not understand until we get to heaven.

What are you worried about today? What is robbing you of “the peace that passeth all understanding”? Oswald Chambers wrote: “Worry is an indication that we think God cannot look after us.” Today, let us rest in the assurance that it’s His nature to love and care for His own, ultimately expressed in His provision of salvation. “The LORD is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made” (Psalm 145:13).

Be encouraged today,

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, You are the Great Provider who meets all our needs. We turn to worry when we consider ourselves to be the source of our provisions rather than Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth. There is nothing we lack when we commit our ways to You and ask You to provide for our needs. You know what we have need of before we ask it, but You are pleased that we acknowledge You to be our Heavenly Benefactor who provides all our natural, physical, and spiritual resources. When our hearts are secure in You, we have no fear and, in the end, we will look in triumph on our foes. That’s because we serve a caring and generous God who faithfully watches over us especially during times of testing. Amen.

* “Mansion Builder” by Anne Herring. This song was sung by a group called “The Second Chapter of Acts” and takes us back to our early days in the faith!

Chaplain Stephen and Brooksyne Weber serve with Transport for Christ. Click here to contact the Webers.

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