Drivetime Devotions October 5, 2026

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Each week you'll find biblical teaching, practical encouragement, and conversations designed to help you follow Jesus in everyday life.

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Welcome to Drivetime Devotionals, a look at Scripture to help you get your school or work week started with your focus in the right place.

I'm Katrina, the Director of Communications at Celebration.

Recently, a few members of my family have been facing some serious health issues, and I've had the opportunity to help a little bit with caretaking and support for them.

And I'm blessed to be able to help them, but it's also crazy stressful.

A few days ago, I felt like I was drowning in worries about these people that I love.

And I know I'm not the only one dealing with stress and anxiety.

These are a normal part of human life here on earth.

We all have bills to pay, deadlines to meet, relationships to navigate, decisions to make, people we love to worry about, and circumstances we simply cannot control.

And sometimes those burdens become heavy.

Jesus speaks directly to people who are carrying heavy things in Matthew 11, verses 28 through 30.

Matthew 11:28–30

He says, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

That sounds like an amazing offer, but what does it actually mean?

Because if you've ever been really worried about something, you know that telling yourself, okay, I'm giving this to God now, well, that doesn't necessarily mean you immediately stop thinking about it.

And before we go any further, I want to make something clear.

The Bible's instruction to trust God with our worries does not mean that every struggle with anxiety is evidence of a weak faith.

Sometimes anxiety is a normal response to a difficult situation.

And sometimes it becomes persistent or overwhelming, and we need help working through it.

Talking to a pastor, a trusted friend, a counselor, or a medical professional when appropriate isn't a failure to trust God.

God created us to live in community, and seeking wise help can be one of the ways he cares for us.

So when Jesus tells the weary and burdened to come to him, what does that actually look like?

Well, I think scripture gives us several answers.

First, we need to surrender the burden to God.

1 Peter 5, 7 says, casting all your cares on him because he cares about you.

I love that word, casting.

It isn't gently setting something down while keeping one hand on it.

The Greek word used here means to hurl or throw violently.

This isn't a polite, gentle handoff.

This is flinging our problem far away from us.

And then Psalm 37, 5 says, commit your way to God, trust in him, and he will act.

But here's the part of surrender that I find difficult.

Giving something to God means giving him control over the outcome.

Sometimes I don't really want to surrender my problem to God.

I want to surrender it along with detailed instructions for exactly how he should fix it.

I want God to handle the situation as long as he handles it the way I think he should.

But Proverbs 3, verses 5 through 6 tells us: trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5–6

In all your ways know him, and he will make your path straight.

Surrender means I can tell God exactly what I want.

I can ask him boldly to intervene.

But ultimately, I also have to say, God, I trust you with what happens next.

And sometimes we have to do that more than once.

Sometimes the worry we gave to God this morning is back in our hands by lunchtime.

So we have to give it over to him again.

Second, we need to rest in God's character even when the problem is unresolved.

Isaiah 26, 3 through 4 says, You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you, trust in the Lord forever, because in the Lord, the Lord Himself is an everlasting rock.

Notice that our confidence isn't in knowing how the situation is going to turn out.

Our confidence is in knowing God.

That's an important distinction.

Biblical peace isn't confidence that everything will happen the way we want, it's confidence that God remains God regardless of what happens.

Sometimes, when we're anxious, we spend enormous amounts of mental energy running through every possible outcome.

What if this happens?

What if that happens?

What am I going to do if this all goes wrong?

But eventually, we reach questions we simply can't answer.

And that's where we have to shift our focus from what we don't know to what we do know.

And we know that God is good.

God is faithful.

He is present.

He loves us, and he's stronger than the situation we're facing.

In Exodus chapter 14, the Israelites found themselves trapped between Pharaoh's army and the Red Sea, and they couldn't see a solution.

Exodus 14 · chapter mention

Moses told them, Don't be afraid.

Stand firm and see the Lord's salvation that he will accomplish for you today.

The Lord will fight for you, and you must be quiet.

Well, they didn't have peace because they could see a way across the sea.

They had peace because the God who had brought them that far was still with them.

Third, we have to be open to how God leads you through the situation.

Trusting God doesn't necessarily mean doing nothing.

Sometimes after we pray, the next thing God calls us to do is to take a step.

James 1.5 says, if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given to him.

When we're overwhelmed, sometimes we're trying to solve ten steps at once.

Maybe instead we need to ask, God, what is the next faithful thing you want me to do?

Maybe it's having a difficult conversation, making an appointment, apologizing to somebody, setting a healthy boundary, asking someone for help, or maybe the answer really is to just wait.

Psalm 25 says, Make your ways known to me, Lord.

Teach me your paths, guide me in your truth, and teach me.

We surrender the outcome to God, but we remain attentive and obedient to whatever He asks us to do next.

The fourth step is to let other people help you carry the burden.

This one is important because sometimes we spiritualize our problems so much that we think giving something to God means we shouldn't need anybody else.

But that's not how God designed the church.

Ecclesiastes 4, 9 through 10 says, Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts, for if either fails, his companion can lift him up.

And Galatians 6, 2 tells us, carry one another's burden.

In this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Sometimes God's answers to Jesus, I can't carry this anymore, is another believer saying, Then let me help you carry it.

Let people pray for you.

Talk to someone you trust.

And when the burden is more than friends or family are equipped to help with, reach out for appropriate professional help.

You don't get extra spiritual credit for struggling alone.

And finally, allow God to use what you've walked through to help someone else.

2 Corinthians 1, 3 through 4 calls God the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.

He comforts us in all of our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction.

That doesn't mean everything painful happens, so we'll have a good testimony later.

And it certainly doesn't make the painful thing good.

It means suffering doesn't have to be wasted.

The comfort God gives us can eventually become comfort we offer to someone else.

The person who has walked through grief may someday sit beside someone who is grieving and understand when there aren't any words to say.

The person who has struggled with fear may recognize it when they see it in someone else.

And someone who once needed help carrying their burden may eventually become the person who helps carry someone else's.

So let's go back to Jesus' invitation.

Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Notice that first word.

People who don't know what happens next.

He says, Come to me.

And maybe that's what you need to hear as you begin this week.

You don't have to solve everything today.

You don't have to know how every situation will turn out, and you don't have to carry everything alone.

Bring your burdens to Jesus.

Release your grip on the outcome.

Remember who he is, and ask him to show you the next faithful step.

And then let other people walk alongside you when you need them.

And if you pick that burden back up tomorrow, bring it back to him again.

1 Peter 5 7 says, casting all your cares on him because he cares about you.

Not because your problems aren't important, not because Christians aren't supposed to feel anxious.

Because he cares about you.

Have a great week, celebration family.

Thanks for joining us on the Celebration Baptist Church podcast.

We hope today's conversation helps you take another step in your faith journey.

For more resources, upcoming events, and to join us live, visit iCelebration.org.

Until next time, keep connecting with God, connecting with others, and living on mission.