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Fri 12/22
Story
Sweet Reassurance
Based on a story by Nancie Carmichael
Nancie was worried about Jon, the youngest of her three sons, starting first grade and riding the school bus for the first time. She wondered if he would be able to make friends and if he would be safe. She felt guilty for doubting God’s protection, but she couldn’t help but feel anxious.
Nancie then recalled a summer when she was 10 years old and desperately wanted to go to sleepaway camp. Her mother was worried about her, but Nancie convinced her to let her go by quoting Scripture in an impassioned letter to her mother. “The Bible says, ‘No evil shall befall you,’” she wrote. “‘Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.’” She concluded with a pointed question: “Mom, do we believe it or not?”
It struck Nancie that her faith was stronger when she was a child than she it was now. That evening as she was tucking the boys into bed, she asked herself the same question she’d put to her mother: Do I believe or not? To calm her own fears as much as Jon’s, she reminded all three boys of something none of us should forget.
“We don’t ever have to be afraid,” she said, “because God is always looking after us and sends angels—God’s helpers—to make sure we’re all right.”
They were still talking about angels when her husband Bill, a pastor, returned home from a meeting at his church and poked his head into the boys’ bedroom.
“Hey, guys,” he said. “I have a surprise. Look what Alice made for you!”
Alice worked at the church and occasionally brought treats to meetings. But nothing like what she’d given Bill to take home that night: three big, beautifully decorated angel cookies.
“Hey, Mom,” Jon said. “I think God is saying we really do have angels that look out for us!”
Nancie realized that she had been wrong to doubt God’s protection. She knew that she could trust the angels to chaperone Jon on the school bus and to comfort her while he was out of her care.
Jon is grown up now with children of his own, but he still remembers those angel cookies and he now knows they brought Nancie even more comfort than they brought him.
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—Matthew 6:33
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”
NIV
Reflect
How will you seek out God’s reassurance the next time you need it?
I will go to God in prayer and ask Him for His comfort and grace.
I will take steps to grow closer to God during difficult seasons.
I will pause to acknowledge God’s presence throughout my day.
May God’s love encourage and guide your steps today. We’ll see you again soon!
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