Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading titled, You Are Heard, was written by Karen Huang.

In the book, Physics, Charles Ryborg Mann and George Ransom Twist ask,

When a tree falls in a lonely forest and no animal is nearby to hear it, does it make a sound?

Over the years, this question has prompted philosophical and scientific discussions about sound, perception, and existence.

A definitive answer, however, has yet to emerge.

One night, while feeling lonely and sad about a problem I hadn't shared with anyone,

I recalled this question.

When no one hears my cry for help, I thought, does God hear?

Facing the threat of death and overcome by distress, the writer of Psalm 116 may have felt abandoned,

so he called out to God, knowing he was listening and would help him.

He heard my voice, the psalmist wrote. He heard my cry for mercy. He turned his ear to me.

When no one knows our pain, God knows. When no one hears our cries, God hears. Knowing that God will show us his love and protection, we can be at rest in difficult times. The Hebrew word translated rest describes a place of quiet and safety.

We can be at peace, strengthened by the assurance of God's presence and help.

The question posed by man and twists led to numerous answers,

but the answer to the question, does God hear, is simply yes.

Today's Our Daily Bread Devotional Scripture reading is from Psalm 116, verses 1 through 7.

I love the Lord, for he heard my voice.

He heard my cry for mercy.

Because he turned his ear to me,

I will call on him as long as I live.

The cords of death entangled me. The anguish of the grave came over me. I was overcome by distress and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord.

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