Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac . I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day . So grab your cup of coffee , sit back , relax and let me help you start your day right . Cliff Schimels recalls this story from his childhood , growing up on the farm .
One cold winter morning the year before I started school , my dad came in and asked if I'd like to go with him to feed the cows . That sounded like fun , so I dressed in my warmest clothes , including the mittens connected by a string through the sleeves of my jacket , and went with my dad to take my place in the world of work . It was a pleasant morning .
The sun was shining brightly , but it was cold and the ground was covered with a blanket of new snow . We harnessed the team , babe and blue , and went over the hill with a wagon full of hay . After we found the cows and unloaded the hay for them , we started home , and then my dad came up with a good idea . A hay for them .
We started home , and then my dad came up with a good idea . Would you like to drive ? He asked , and I responded in a typically manly fashion I like to drive anything cars , trucks , golf carts or donkey carts . I think the attraction must be the power .
There's such a sense of power to be in control of something larger than I am and it's good for my male ego of power to be in control of something larger than I am and it's good for my male ego . So I took the lines from my dad , held them looped over my hands as he showed me , and we plotted . Back home I was thrilled .
I was in control , I was driving , but the plotting bothered me . I decided that while I was in control we should speed up . So I clucked the horses along and they began to hurry . First they began to trot and I decided that was a much better pace , we were moving along and we would get home much faster .
But Babe and Blue came up with their own better idea . They decided that if they would run we would get home even sooner . The horses went to work on their plan and began to run and as I remember it , they were running as fast as I had ever seen horses run . That observation might have a slight exaggeration factor built in , but they did run .
The wagon bounced from mound to mound as the prairie dog holes whizzed by . I concluded that we were in a dangerous situation and I started to try my best to slow down this runaway team . I pulled and tugged on the lines until my hands cramped . I cried and pleaded , but nothing worked . Old Babe in Blue just kept on running .
I glanced over at my dad and he was just sitting there looking out across the pasture and watching the world go by by . Now I was frantic . My hands were cut from the lines , the tears streaming down my face were almost frozen from the winter cold and stuff was running out my nose . And my dad was just sitting there watching the world go by .
Finally , in utter desperation , I turned to him and said as calmly as I could here , daddy , I don't want to drive anymore . Now that I'm older and people call me Grandpa , I reenact that scene at least once a day .
Regardless of who we are , how old we are or how wise and powerful we are , there's always that moment when our only response is to turn to our father and say here , I don't want to drive anymore .
Most of us have had those experiences where things started off going very , very well and we were enjoying where we're at , we're enjoying what we were doing and then it started to change . Sometimes those changes happen quickly and other times it seems like they almost sneak up on us , happening slowly and before we know it . We're not having any fun anymore .
Things aren't going the right way anymore and instead we're now worried or afraid . We call it to God and we say Lord , help me , I need your help right now . I don't know what happened , but things aren't going right . And he comes in , he takes it over and he helps us . Psalm chapter 94 and verse 19 is a beautiful little verse .
It says this when anxiety was great within me , your consolation brought me joy . I really like how the Message Bible states it . It says when I was upset and beside myself , you calmed me down and cheered me up . And that's exactly what God wants to do in our lives . He never is angry that we're in a place where things are out of our own control .
He's always there to come along beside us and say okay , I know you tried , you thought you were doing the right thing , you thought you were doing your best , but suddenly it sort of took you over and now you have a problem . But suddenly it sort of took you over and now you have a problem . Well , god comes along in those times .
He is our comfort , he is our strength to help us through those times . So I encourage you today that when you are facing those challenging times and it looks like things are beginning to get out of control and you cry out to God , help me , god is there with you .
He will come along , he'll take the reins , he'll take the reins , he'll take the wheel and he will guide you and help you get through it . Have a great day , my friends . We will talk again tomorrow . Thank you for listening today and I invite you to join me Monday to Friday , right here on Starting Right , with Danny Mac .