The Upper Room 29 January 2022 Devotional | Saturday Message
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God’s Timing
R. G. Wood (Ohio, USA)
TODAY’S READING
Ecclesiastes 3:9-13
KEY VERSE: Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. – Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)
Earlier in my career as a speech-language pathologist, I received yearly contracts to work in a particular school district. One year, when July rolled around, I had no contract. Reluctantly, I took work at a nursing facility. I was deeply unsatisfied, but my wife told me repeatedly, “It’s only a season.”
In March of that year, my wife discovered a lump in her breast. Over the next 10 months, we went to dozens of doctors’ appointments and treatments. We prayed constantly. Eventually, my wife’s initial treatment was complete. She was cancer-free!
I missed only two of her medical appointments during those months. Working at the nursing facility made that possible because my schedule was flexible. Had I worked at a school, I wouldn’t have been able to be with my wife when she needed me most. I believe that by putting me in the nursing facility, the Lord was nurturing us long before we even realized we needed it.
Sometimes when I don’t understand what God is doing, I think about that experience. I remember that God can use the pieces of my life to help me end up exactly where I need to be.
TODAY’S PRAYER
O Lord, help us to remember that you are forever faithful, even when we can’t see the bigger picture. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Even when I don’t fully understand, I will trust God.
PRAYER FOCUS
Speech pathologists
The Upper Room 29 January 2022 Devotional. The Upper Room is a daily devotional magazine published in more than 30 languages and 100 countries around the world. The daily meditations are written by readers of the magazine and others interested in sharing their faith experiences through writing—both laity and clergy, published authors and new writers. The meditations are stories of real people working to live faithfully with the Bible as their touchstone. Every day, readers of The Upper Room around the world read the same story in many different languages and pray the same prayer together. Read More