THE UPPER ROOM 10TH SEPTEMBER 2024 DAILY DEVOTIONAL , TUESDAY MESSAGE
TOPIC: A New Thing
Today’s Reading
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” – 1 Samuel 16:1 (NIV)
TODAY’S MESSAGE
After living in Arizona for 12 years, we moved back to Louisiana to be near family. However, I pined for the friends and comfortable routines I had left in Arizona. So many things were different now, and I was struggling to enjoy our new home and time with my family.
One morning I was reading 1 Samuel 16:1 and realized that I was mourning for Arizona instead of embracing where God had placed me. There was so much to be thankful for, especially being near my family whom I had missed when we were far away. I could choose how long I would mourn. I could continue to look back at what had been and remain stuck, or I could look ahead to new opportunities. Like Samuel, I could fill my horn with oil and be on my way.
Instead of continuing to mourn the loss of the old, it was time to embrace the many new things ahead of me. I gave thanks for the gentle rebuke and the reminder that God always makes a new way. God’s blessings are ours only if we accept and receive them.
Today’s Prayer
Dear God, help us to see that even when our circumstances change, you are always with us. Give us confidence to step into the new, knowing that we are not alone. Amen.
Thought for the Day
I can choose to be grateful to God when changes come.
Prayer Focus
Someone moving to a new town
The Upper Room 10th September 2024 Daily Devotional Message. 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