Dayton Chronicle - Your Hometown News Source

Friends, our granddaughter will be seven in a few days. She has been very vocal about remembering her birthday. She may have a point. Often those who have Birthdays near Christmas can be slighted or overlooked. I was relieved when I left her present with the postal officials. Now it was in their hands.

We are given freedom when we can place our trust in others. Though her present will travel through all kinds of weather and be tossed to and fro on the way, it isn't my problem. I let it go. Can you imagine how troubled Joseph would have been if he had known all the troubles that lay in the path of Jesus' birth?

The trip to Bethlehem would be long and hard on expectant Mary. King Herod wanted the baby dead. The birth would take place among the smell of animals and the unsanitary conditions of a stable. They would need to flee to Egypt. It was all out of his control. The Lord took care of it all.

The Bible says, "Trust in the Lord". To trust means to rest the weight of our cares upon Him. It means to transfer the load to the One who alone has the resources to take care of it. It means we let go, trust the Lord, and obey Him in those things that are within our grasp. Such trust frees us from cares that weigh us down. "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you " 1 Peter 5:7.

God Bless You.

Pastor Greg Brownell

United Brethren Church

Dayton