OUR DAILY BREAD                             Thursday, December 29, 1994
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Read: Psalm 23



                       The Peace-Of-Mind Game


                              The Lord
                           is my shepherd;
                                  I
                            shall not want.

                              Psalm 23:1



In her down-to-earth book More Than Sparrows, Mary Welch tells of her 
discussion with a group of high schoolers about worry. Although they 
were Christians, they were as worried as pagans about the common things 
of life. As she listened to them with love, yearning to help them, an 
unusual idea came to her for a game they could play. It went like this:

Instead of saying, "I am worried," stop and say, "The Lord is my 
Shepherd." Then add, "So I'm worried to death!" The students laughed at 
the idea, but they all promised to play this new "peace-of-mind" game.

Later Mary received a phone call from a young woman who had been 
paralyzed by worry over an exam she had been dreading to take. she said, 
"I must tell you how the game helped me trust God today. As I froze with 
worry, I remembered to say, "The Lord is my Shepherd... so I'm afraid 
I'll fail!" Suddenly I felt the strangest peace of mind. I laughed at 
myself, then I took the exam and passed!"

Saying in one breath, "The Lord is my Shepherd and I am worried to 
death" is more than a mind game to point out the absurdity of worry. God 
can use it to bring us to a fuller trust in Him.

-- Joanie E. Yoder

Into His hands I lay the fears that haunt me,
The dread of future ills that may befall;
Into His hands I lay the doubts that taunt me,
And rest securely, trusting Him for all.

- Christiansen



The Bible in one year: Revelation 13-15

Thought for the day: Worry is the interest you pay on borrowed
                     trouble.


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Our Daily Bread, Copyright 1994, used by permission of
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