Big Yellow Peterbilt - October 17, 2018

An Arkie's Faith column from the October 17, 2018, issue of The Mena Star.

A light drizzle had begun to fall as the big yellow Peterbilt pulled into the driveway. The right windshield had a big crack and needed to be replaced. Because the exhaust smokestacks on the truck were too tall, I couldn’t get it under the roof of my workplace. “I guess I will just have to work outside in the rain,” I thought. Installing windshields in big trucks has never been my favorite thing to do. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to the job.

I pulled the hood assembly forward to tip it open so that I could climb up to the windshield. The drizzle soon made everything wet and slippery. I had to climb very carefully to maintain my footing. Once my foot slipped, but I was able to grab the grab handle and keep from falling. As I was removing the old windshield, the rain became heavier. It was no longer a drizzle. Once the windshield was removed, I quickly picked up the new windshield and began to climb up to position it in the opening. My heart sank as the wet windshield slipped out of my hand as I was trying to climb up into place. I watched in seeming slow motion as the windshield bounced a couple of times like a pinball and then slammed onto the concrete.

My new windshield was now badly broken, and there was no windshield in the Peterbilt. What was I going to do? It would be two days before I could get a replacement windshield. I remembered a friend who often worked on big rigs. I knew that he kept some truck windshields in stock. I called him and asked if he had a windshield for the Peterbilt. He said that he did. I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that I would be able to complete the job for the customer. I headed out to pick up the windshield, and thirty minutes later I was back working on the Peterbilt. I had a difficult time installing the windshield, but with my Daddy’s help, it was finally in place. I was thankful to have the job completed even if I wasn’t making any profit. It is hard to make money when you pay for two windshields on one job.

When you are in business, there will always be days when things go wrong. There will be days that cost you money instead of making money. In the past, I have allowed myself to become very agitated when things like that happened. But I discovered that being upset didn’t change anything except that it made me unhappy. Frequently I let my circumstances determine my attitude. But I now realize that I can determine my attitude towards circumstances instead of allowing circumstances to control my attitude.

We often think that our emotional responses are controlled by our situation. When we experience negative circumstances, we believe that we have no choice except to react to them. We become upset and unhappy. Any other response seems impossible. But we can choose not to get upset by circumstances that normally would have upset us. To succeed, we must remember that we have a choice and then be deliberate about our reaction.

In an article titled, “Choosing Not to Get Upset,” Christian psychologist Dr. Terry L. Ledford tells about a personal experience that he had while flying. He had boarded the plane and settled into his seat when the pilot made an announcement. He told the passengers that there was a problem with the onboard flight computer, and they would be underway as soon as maintenance fixed the problem, but that it would take some time. He then explained, “unfortunately, because this is an international flight, we can’t allow you to deplane, because of customs laws. Once the cabin door is closed, you are officially no longer in the U.S. We’ll turn on the air conditioning to make you as comfortable as possible.”

Dr. Ledford wrote; “Four hours later, we were still sitting there, and people were not happy. Many were standing in the aisles complaining. I was still sitting in my seat, reading my book. I noticed that three ladies were standing in the aisle beside me, fussing about the situation. One of the women was speaking to me. ‘And you, why are you not upset?’ she challenged. ‘You’re just sitting there reading like this isn’t bothering you!’ ‘I didn’t know that it would help to get upset,’ I responded.”

As I have matured, I have begun to realize that my circumstances are never helped by getting upset. I only make myself unhappy when I get upset, and often spread that unhappiness to the people around me. Being happy is a choice. We choose every day if we are going to let the worries, problems, and circumstances from our day get us down. If we decide that we are going to be happy no matter what the circumstances, we will enjoy life more.

In Philippians 4:11 (NIV) Paul said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” The key thought here is that Paul learned, and it’s possible for us to learn as well. Being content does not mean that you have no hopes or desires; it means being willing to let God teach you no matter what your circumstances are at the moment. Happiness and contentment do not come from things. They don’t come because of wonderful circumstances. They come from a relationship with God.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT) gives us more insight into how we can be content and happy. “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Gentle Reader, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]” John 14:27 (AMPC) When difficult circumstances come our way we need to say, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." Psalm 23:1 NKJV)