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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, thank you for listening to your Daily

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Speaker 1: Bible Verse, the podcast that examines one verse each day

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Speaker 1: to learn more about God and his will for us.

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Carol McCracken, and after a short word

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Speaker 1: from our sponsor, will dive into today's Bible Verse, Second

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Speaker 1: King six sixteen. Today's Bible versus Second King six sixteen.

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Speaker 1: Do not be afraid, for those who are with us

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Speaker 1: are more than those who were with them. I want

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Speaker 1: to take you with me to a moment that still

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Speaker 1: makes my stomach tight a little. I was in Madrid

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Speaker 1: on the last night of a mission trip and it

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Speaker 1: had gone so well, you know those trips, or you

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Speaker 1: can just feel it. God showed up, conversation mattered, people

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Speaker 1: were changed, including you, and we were out to dinner

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Speaker 1: as a team, debriefing, laughing, kind of replaying moments. And

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Speaker 1: it was one of those sweet endings where you're already

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Speaker 1: a little nostalgic iss you haven't even left yet. So

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Speaker 1: I set my purse down under the table with some

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Speaker 1: of the other purses, and other team members were there.

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Speaker 1: We got it, they said. I got up to order

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Speaker 1: a coffee, thinking nothing of it. I came back and

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Speaker 1: my purse was gone. It wasn't rummaged through or disturbed,

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Speaker 1: it was just gone. It had to be professionals. In

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Speaker 1: a split second, everything shifted. My passport, cash, credit cards, phone,

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Speaker 1: The whole identity was gone. I was suddenly off the

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Speaker 1: grid in a foreign country, vulnerable and exposed. It was

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Speaker 1: that apy, hollow feeling which settled in fast. You started

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Speaker 1: doing the mental math immediately. How do I get home?

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Speaker 1: Do I call? What do I even do? First? We

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Speaker 1: had to make a police report, and I had a

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Speaker 1: copy of my passport back at the airbnb. Was it enough?

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Speaker 1: Would it work? There's this disorientating moment when you realize

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Speaker 1: how much of your security is tied to things that

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Speaker 1: you can hold in your hand, And just like that,

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Speaker 1: I don't feel safe anymore. And that's where this verse

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Speaker 1: meets us. Second. King six drops us into a moment

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Speaker 1: in Israel's history when the prophet Elishah's man hunted. The

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Speaker 1: King of Aram is furious because every movie makes is

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Speaker 1: somehow being exposed, and what he doesn't realize at first

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Speaker 1: is the cause, revealing his plans to Elijah, who then

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Speaker 1: warns Israel. So the Kink decides to take Elisha out.

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Speaker 1: He sends horses and chariots and a strong army by

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Speaker 1: night to surround the city where Elijah stanng. It's a

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Speaker 1: full scale operation. When Elijah's servant wakes up the next

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Speaker 1: morning and steps outside, he sees its horses and chariots everywhere.

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Speaker 1: They were completely surrounded, and his response is the most

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Speaker 1: human response imaginable. Oh no, my lord, what should we do?

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Speaker 1: That's not draumatic, that's honest. Eliza's response is what we

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Speaker 1: just read, do not be afraid, for those who are

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Speaker 1: with us are more than those who were with them.

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Speaker 1: Now pause there a second, because if you're the servant,

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Speaker 1: that sounds a little disconnected from reality. More with us,

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Speaker 1: it's just the two of us, except it's not. Elisha prays,

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Speaker 1: Lord opened his eyes that he may see, And suddenly

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Speaker 1: the servant's eyes are opened and he sees what was

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Speaker 1: always there but hidden, the hills full of horses and chariots,

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Speaker 1: of fire all around Elisha. God's presence, protection and provision

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Speaker 1: right there the whole time. Here's what's striking to me

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Speaker 1: about this passage. Nothing about the external situation had changed.

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Speaker 1: The army was still they, the threat was still real.

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Speaker 1: What changed was what the servant could see. That's the

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Speaker 1: tension we live in because sometimes life doesn't feel like

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Speaker 1: a gentle nudge. It feels like something's been taken from you, stability, health, security,

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Speaker 1: or control. You go from lafe and over dinner to

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Speaker 1: wondering how you're going to get home. You go from

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Speaker 1: everything spine to what do I do now? In about

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Speaker 1: ten seconds. And in those moments, fear doesn't ask permission.

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Speaker 1: It just shows up. But Elisha doesn't tell the servant,

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Speaker 1: don't be afraid because the problem isn't real, and minimize

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Speaker 1: the situation. He redirects his focus. Those who are with

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Speaker 1: us are more. More doesn't always mean what we think

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Speaker 1: it means. It doesn't always mean more resources, more answers,

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Speaker 1: more control. Sometimes it means more presence, more of God

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Speaker 1: than you're currently perceiving imagery. I didn't suddenly get my

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Speaker 1: purse back. The situation didn't reverse itself. I still had

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Speaker 1: to walk through the process, feeling the report, filing it,

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Speaker 1: figuring out documents, and navigating logistics without my Oh. It

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Speaker 1: was inconvenient, uncomfortable, and honestly hombling. But I wasn't alone.

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Speaker 1: God's presence didn't just leave because my security did, and

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Speaker 1: that's where this passage becomes more than a story, kind

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Speaker 1: of becomes a lens. The Hebrew phrase behind do not

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Speaker 1: be afraid isn't just about calming emotions. It's a command

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Speaker 1: root and in trust, not denial or pretending everything's fine,

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Speaker 1: but a refusal to let fear have the final word

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Speaker 1: because you know something deeper true. God's already there, and

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Speaker 1: before you even realize you're surrounded, He's surrounding before the

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Speaker 1: problem becomes visible to you. His presence is already established.

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Speaker 1: And sometimes what we need most isn't to change in circumstance,

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Speaker 1: but a change in sight. Lord, opened my eyes. Open

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Speaker 1: my eyes to the ways you're providing when I feel exposed.

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Speaker 1: Open my eyes to the people you've placed around me

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Speaker 1: when I feel alone. Open my eyes to the resources

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Speaker 1: I do have when I'm focused on what's lost. Open

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Speaker 1: my eyes to your presence when everything in me feels vulnerable.

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Speaker 1: Because vulnerability has a way of convincing as we're unprotected.

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Speaker 1: But this passage tells a different story. You may feel

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Speaker 1: like everything important has been taken, but what matters most

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Speaker 1: hasn't moved. God's presence is not tied to your possessions.

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Speaker 1: Your identity isn't secured by what's in your purse, your wallet,

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Speaker 1: or your hand, and your future isn't dependent on your

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Speaker 1: ability to control every outcome. So when fear shows up,

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Speaker 1: and it will, you don't have to pretend it's not there.

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Speaker 1: You can acknowledge it honestly, like the servant did, and

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Speaker 1: then let God expand your vision beyond it. Those who

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Speaker 1: were with us are more even when you can I

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Speaker 1: can't see it yet, even when you're standing in the

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Speaker 1: middle of a situation that feels exposed and uncertain, and

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Speaker 1: over time, something begins to shift, not because everything suddenly resolved,

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Speaker 1: but because you stop measuring your security by what you

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Speaker 1: can hold in your hands and start anchoring it in

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Speaker 1: who is holding you. You find yourself taking the next step,

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Speaker 1: making the next call, doing the next right thing, not

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Speaker 1: out of panic, but from a steadier place of trust.

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Speaker 1: And often one of the first ways God answers that

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Speaker 1: simple prayer open my eyes is by gently directing you

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Speaker 1: to the people in resources He's already placed around you.

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Speaker 1: It may look like a friend who knows how to

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Speaker 1: pray when you don't how the words are Someone sitting

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Speaker 1: across the table who can think clearly when your mind

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Speaker 1: is racing. Sometimes it's a person who's walked a similar

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Speaker 1: road and can say with quiet confidence, here's what helped me.

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Speaker 1: Let's take this one step at a time moment like

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Speaker 1: mine in Madrid. What became so clear is that God's

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Speaker 1: provision just didn't come in the form of his presence.

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Speaker 1: It came through his people. I wasn't just not alone.

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Speaker 1: I was supported, guided, and help forward by those right

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Speaker 1: there with me, even when it felt completely off balance.

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Speaker 1: And that's part of what it means that those who

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Speaker 1: were with us are more not only unseen protection, but

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Speaker 1: tangible provision, not only spiritual reassurance, but practical help in

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Speaker 1: real time. So maybe today the prayer you carry isn't

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Speaker 1: just God remind me I'm not alone, But God opened

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Speaker 1: my eyes to the help You've already provided and give

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Speaker 1: me the humility to receive it. Because when he does,

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Speaker 1: you begin to see that you're not only held by God,

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Speaker 1: you're also surrounded by his care in ways you can

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Speaker 1: reach for, respond to, and walk forward with. Will you

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Speaker 1: pray with me, Dear Lord in heaven, We read and

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Speaker 1: intellectually know that our identity should be in You, But sometimes, Lord,

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Speaker 1: we feel the loss of identity here on Earth. Things

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Speaker 1: are taken from us and we don't know what to do,

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Speaker 1: and it shocks us. And we're in this tension of

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Speaker 1: trying to trust you and feeling out what our role

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Speaker 1: is and being shocked. Lord, focus us. Let us just

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Speaker 1: say the words, Lord, where are you? And You're always there?

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Speaker 1: Help us to our racing hearts. Help us to focus

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Speaker 1: on the provision that you've given that's all around us.

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Speaker 1: You give us tools to get to you. Lord. You

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Speaker 1: have people all around us, you have prayer, and you

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Speaker 1: have many things that we can focus on. Lord, help

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Speaker 1: us to do that when we need you, when we're

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Speaker 1: being humbled, when you're trying to make us focus on you.

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Speaker 1: Let us understand Lord that you literally are there all

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Speaker 1: the time, and you're preciously we pray. Ahmed