Hello and welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading titled Really Live was written by Anne Cetus.

Thousands of people prayed for Pastor Ed Dobson when he was diagnosed with ALS in 2000.

Many believed that when they prayed in faith for healing, God would answer immediately.

After 12 years of struggling with the disease that caused Ed's muscles to atrophy little by

little, someone asked him why he thought God hadn't healed him yet.

There's no good answer, so I don't ask, he replied. His wife Lorna added,

if you're always obsessed about having to have answers, you can't really live. Can you hear the

respect for God in Ed and Lorna's words? They knew that

his wisdom is above their own. Yet, Ed admitted, I find it nearly impossible not to worry about

tomorrow. He understood that the disease would cause increasing disability, and he didn't know

what new problem the next day might bring. To help himself focus on the present, Ed placed these

verses from Hebrews 13 in his car, on the bathroom mirror, and next to his bed. God has said, never will I leave you,

never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.

Whenever he started to worry, he would repeat the verses to help him refocus his thoughts on the

truth. No one knows what the next day will bring. Maybe Ed's practice could help us turn our

worries into opportunities to trust.

Today's Our Daily Bread Devotional Scripture reading is from Hebrews chapter 13,

verses 5 through 8.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said,

never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, the Lord is my helper,

I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the

...