DON???T BE AFRAID!







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By Helen Lescheid







Scripture: "Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you" (Psalm 9:10).







Let me tell you about a time when I was terrified with nowhere to go, or so I thought.







Because of a personal choice I had made, I found myself all alone on a remote school compound in Swaziland, many miles from the nearest town.







I had encouraged my son and daughter to travel throughout South Africa without me. "I'll be fine!" I'd told them as I had waved them on. But as I watched the tail lights of their white Toyota disappear over dusty, brown hills covered with scraggly aloe vera bushes, panic surged through me. Here I was, among total strangers, the only white woman, thousands of miles from home. Suddenly I remembered the warnings the travel agent had given us at the Johannesburg Airport: "Never travel alone. Double lock your doors. Crime is at an all time high," she'd said.







I hurried into my daughter's house, and double locked the door. I paced the small rooms longing to see one familiar object. But unadorned cement walls held only the absolute basics: a narrow bed swallowed up by a mosquito net, a small propane camp stove, a few groceries on crude wooden shelves, two chairs next to a rough wooden table, a pail of rationed water. No electricity. No telephone.







"Like camping, " I'd told my daughter earlier. "No problem."







But now the strange surroundings added to my keen sense of isolation.







I don't know a single person in all of Swaziland, I groaned. Even if there were a telephone, I wouldn't know whom to call in an emergency.







Call on me. The still, small Voice was unmistakable. You still have Me. I grabbed my Bible--the one familiar object I saw in the whole house--and searched it's pages for some reassuring promise. "You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance," I read in Psalm 32:8.







Daily reading aloud the Scripture promises I found in the Bible gave me sufficient comfort to formulate a plan of action. And it didn't include hibernating in my house for two-and-half weeks! With renewed courage I walked outdoors where I found some curious Swazi children. They took me to their homesteads to meet their parents. Well, God is full of surprises. At one homestead, a woman told me-- her daughter translating-- "Since my husband died, life has been very hard but Jesus is with me and He helps me."







Can you imagine my joy at finding a Christian sister? Immediately I didn't feel so all alone anymore.







Prayer: Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You alone make us to dwell in safety (Psalm 4:8).







Questions: How have you experienced God when you're afraid? How has He met your need in a practical way?







About the Author: http://tmdevotionals.com/women/authors/helen-lescheid/







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