“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with gratitude, make your requests known to God.”

— Philippians 4:6

When Abraham Lincoln was a circuit rider for the courts as a lawyer, going to wherever the courts were being held in small towns, he had to cross a lot of rivers. That included the notorious Fox River, which, in times of rain, was most turbulent and extremely dangerous.

One night he and a colleague had crossed several rivers in the days before, and his companion had said to him, “If these are this bad, what in the world is it going to be like when we try to cross the Fox?” And it just so happened that that night, as they stayed in an inn, there was a Methodist circuit rider there who had been traveling those parts for almost fifty years. And they asked him if he knew about the Fox River, and he said, “Oh, my, yes. I know all about that. I have been crossing it innumerable times for many years.” And they asked if he had any advice about how they might cross it safely. He said, “Absolutely. I have discovered that there is one secret about the Fox River which I never fail to keep in mind.” He said, “I never cross it until I reach it.”

Well, I think that all of us have faced a great many Fox Rivers that we have “crossed” when we were yet miles away. By the time we have arrived at them, we discover that a drought has come, and the river has dried up. Turn your worries over to God. Instead of worrying, pray and give thanks—and watch God take care of your Fox River by the time you get there.

Dear Lord Jesus, we thank You for taking care of so many of the problems we have worried about. We see Your hand straightening out our path, and we thank You for sending Your angel before us…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN TURN
OUR WORRIES OVER TO GOD.