Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our meditation titled Bibles in the Backseat was written by Karen Huang.

Andrew's Volkswagen stopped and the guards walked over.

He prayed as he had many times in the past.

God, when you were on earth, you made blind eyes see.

Now, please make seeing eyes blind.

The guards searched the car, saying nothing about the Bibles in the

luggage. Andrew crossed the border, taking his cargo to those who couldn't own a Bible.

Andrew Vanderbale, or brother Andrew, relied on God's power for the seemingly impossible task God had called him to,

taking the scriptures to countries where Christianity was illegal.

I'm an ordinary guy, he said, emphasizing his limited education and lack of funds.

What I did, anyone can do.

Today, his organization, Open Doors International, serves persecuted believers in Jesus worldwide.

In the book of Zechariah, when Zarubababelle, the governor of Judah,

faced the seemingly impossible task of rebuilding the temple after the Jews returned from exile,

he was discouraged. But God reminded him not to rely on human power or might, but on his spirit. He encouraged him through a vision

given to the prophet Zechariah of lamps supplied with oil from nearby olive trees. Just as the

lamps could burn because of the continual supply of oil, Zerubabel and the Israelites could do God's task

by relying on his continuous supply of power.

As we rely on God,

may we trust him and do what he calls us to do.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Zechariah chapter four,

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