Document: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db931214.TXT
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    OUR DAILY BREAD                      Tuesday, December 14, 1993
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    Read:  2 Kings 6:8-17

                            WHY AM I AFRAID?

          Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than
                        those who are with them.
                             --2 Kings 6:16

    Columnist George Cantor told how he dealt with a childhood  fear.
    Almost every night he was awakened by something, and he  imagined
    scary creatures lurking outside his room.  Often he would be  too
    scared  to go back to sleep.  Sometimes he would go and lie  down
    by  his  parents' bedroom door, figuring that as long as  he  was
    near them, nothing would hurt him.

    That  child's  need for some physical evidence  of  his  parents'
    presence  reminds me of the young servant of Elisha who  woke  up
    early  one morning and found that the Syrian army had  surrounded
    the city.  Alarmed and afraid, he cried out to Elisha, "Alas,  my
    master!  What  shall  we  do?"  (2  Kings  6:15).  After   Elisha
    prayed,  the Lord opened the young servant's eyes.  What  he  saw
    must  have filled him with awe and wonder.  The Bible  says  that
    "the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all  around
    Elisha" (v.17).

    We too at times long for God to give us some kind of  reassurance
    that  He  is  near,  and  sometimes  He  does.  But  that's   the
    exception.  He wants us to learn to trust His promise that He  is
    with  us.  No matter how frightening the situation, God's  people
    always have more on their side than the enemy has on his.

    Author:  Martin R. De Haan II

             At times our fears may loom so large,
              We long for proof that God is near;
                It's then our Father says to us,
             "Have faith, My child, and do not fear."
                            --DJD

    THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
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    Faith sees things that are out of sight.

    THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  Hebrews 1-4







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