The Lord said to Abram, leave your country, your people, and your father's household, and go to the land. I will show you. I will bless you, and all people on earth will be blessed through you. So Abram left, as the lord had told him, and Abram was 75 years old when he set out. That's taken from Genesis twelve one four. Franklin D. Roosevelt was a witty and warm man who charmed his way into people's favor with speeches that were generally optimistic and upbeat. But in his first inaugural address to the nation after being elected president, the crushing depression of the 1930s demanded something a bit more somber. This is preeminently a time to speak the truth, he began. We need not shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today, but this great nation will endure as it has endured. It will revive, and it will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. People are afraid of many things. A lot of those things are understandable, like lions and tigers and bears. Oh, my. Some are afraid of what the doctor might say after medical tests have been done. Some are afraid of losing their jobs, while others are afraid they will have to work at their jobs till the day they die. We can be afraid of big things like earthquakes and tornadoes, and we can be afraid of small things like spiders. We fear things we do not understand, and we fear things over which we often have no control. We are all afraid of something, and if we are honest, most of us will admit that we are more than a little afraid of the unknown and the future. Perhaps thats why the Bible says, do not be afraid so often. A quick check of a concordance shows that the phrase do not be afraid or do not fear occurs well over 100 times in the Old and New Testaments. Repeatedly, God tells us not to be afraid, but to trust him. In our scripture for today, God challenged Abram to leave his homeland, his family, and virtually everything with which he was familiar to go to a place he had never seen before. And he was well into his seventies when the call came. I am sure that Abram had his fears and doubts, and no doubt the fears and doubts of his wife and friends weighed heavily on his mind as well. But his faith overcame those fears, and he faced the unknown future with a resolve to trust God no matter what. And he is commended by God for doing so. Some say that faith is the opposite of fear. I prefer to think that fear is common, but conquered by faith, God isn't likely to challenge most of us in quite the same way he challenged Abram, but he does ask us to trust him. The question is, are we really willing to do so, or is that just something we say when we're in church?

This has been your thought for the day with Steve Burkham, pastor of Community Christian Church in Stockton, California. If you have questions or comments for Pastor Steve, please send them to dailythoughtspodcastmail.com dot. Have a great day, and we hope you'll join us tomorrow as Pastor Steve opens God's word to bring us another thought for the day.