The Upper Room 4th February 2022 Devotional | Friday Message
Read The Upper Room 4th February 2022 Devotional Guide
Read Past Posts on The Upper Room Archive
A Different Plan
Siyhani Jones (Illinois, USA)
TODAY’S READING
Proverbs 3:5-6
KEY VERSE: “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
The Upper Room 4th February 2022 Devotional MESSAGE
As a junior in college, I daydreamed about my senior year: basketball games, random road trips, late nights watching reality TV. It would be perfect. But things took a turn as I struggled in my chosen field of study and realized most of my close friends would graduate in May. I tried to stay positive, but things only got worse as my last good friend told me she wasn’t coming back to school in the fall. My plans and expectations for senior year were completely crushed.
As fall semester began, I was overwhelmingly lonely, stressed, and jealous of others. I felt like a failure, and that made me angry at God. Why am I being punished? I didn’t know what I had done wrong. However, as I reflected and read scriptures like Jeremiah 29:11, I realized that I had forgotten something important: God’s ways are not my own.
As I’ve surrendered to God’s plan, I’ve gained a new outlook at school. I’ve even made some new friends, maybe ones I wouldn’t have gotten to know if I had lived out my own plan. God was and still is leading me through this journey toward a better me.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Dear God, help us not to hold too tightly to our own expectations and hopes so that we may align our desires with yours. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
God’s ways are not my ways.
PRAYER FOCUS
Those who feel left behind
The Upper Room 4th February 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