How many cares are rolled away when we learn to trust the living God in temporal things! The apostle said, "We trust in the living God," and that trust begets a calm which unbelief can never know. You have asked prayer concerning your vehicle, and rightly so, for the same God who holds the stars in their courses deigns to care for the axles and wheels of His children. It is not a trifle to Him if it concerns your livelihood and your safety. He who feeds the sparrows and numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the crank and the piston. Trust in Him with all your heart, and be not upset, for fretfulness is a leak that drains the spirit of its strength. You are trying to have faith, you say, but remember, the very effort to trust is itself a work of grace within you, and He who bids you lean upon Him will not let you fall.
You ask that your car be fixed and that you be kept safe while driving. These are petitions after God’s own heart, for He has given His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. Not a general oversight, mind you, but a personal, imperative charge: "Take care of My child." The promise is to those who abide in the way of duty, walking in honest industry and uprightness. Your daily rounds of cleaning houses and offices are no mean task in His sight; they are appointed ways, and in those ways angelic protection is guaranteed. Only see to it that you do not run ahead of Providence with rashness, nor lag behind in idleness. Prudence and trust are yoke-fellows: check the oil, tend the tires, and then leave the hidden faults to Him who sees in secret. If the engine should still knock, He is able either to silence it or to give you a song in the night while it knocks.
And if the worst should come, should the vehicle fail entirely, what then? Is God the God only of smooth highways and full tanks? Job could say, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him," and though the herd be cut off from the stall, yet still would he rejoice in God. Your portion is not a working automobile, but the living God Himself. "You are my portion, O Lord," said David, and that portion can never be seized by any creditor, nor broken down upon the roadside. If we have nothing left but God, we have all things still, for He is our All in All. This is the deep joy that the world cannot give: to rejoice in God through Christ Jesus, knowing that every attribute of His is engaged on our behalf, His power to uphold, His wisdom to guide, His faithfulness to fulfill His word.
Be a good steward of what He has entrusted to you, yes, but do not let stewardship degenerate into anxious care. The same God who works in you to be diligent works mightily all things after the counsel of His own will. He will give you perseverance in well-doing and a quiet heart to match. Your prayer is heard; the matter is in His hands, and those hands were pierced for you. Go forth, then, with your trust fixed not on the chariot’s endurance but on the Charioteer. May He make your way prosperous and your journey safe, but above all, may He cause you to know that He is your God, and that to have Him is better than all the warranties of man. Even now, lift up your head and say, "I will trust and not be afraid."