Daily
Devotional

As a child, my parents and Sunday school teachers instilled the fear of God in my heart. Subsequently, even though I was not saved, I called upon God numerous times when I was young.

On one occasion, our family had just arrived back in Oregon after being stranded for a couple of days with car trouble in Murtaugh, Idaho. During the time our truck was broken down, we five children played in the sagebrush, chasing jackrabbits and, yes, picking up a few ticks on our clothes. It was not until we arrived in the city of Medford and were there a couple of days that we realized we had carried several ticks home with us!

We were always told that ticks could carry Rocky Mountain Fever or, worse yet, Lyme disease. As I sat in my study hall at school, I noticed that a tick had embedded itself just below my neckline. I was not saved, but I immediately began to pray that God would not let anything happen to me. Not having suffered any ill effects from the tick, I assumed that God had heard and answered my prayer.

On that same trip, a fuel dealer had sold us the wrong kind of fuel for our heater, and my mother almost died from the fumes. However, God raised her up in answer to prayer.  

Later, when I came to a time in my life that I was praying for deliverance from sin, God pointed me back to those times as a child when I had called on Him and He answered. Indeed, I had been taught the fear of God, and it provided me with a strong confidence and a place of refuge.

We want to encourage all Sunday school teachers and parents not to become discouraged with their work. God is using them to instill in students a strong confidence in Him and a knowledge that He is a place of refuge, and that knowledge stands each one of us in good stead.