The Upper Room 12 January 2024 Devotional
The Upper Room 12 January 2024 Devotional, Friday Message by Enid Adah Nyinomujuni (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)
TOPIC: God’s Renewing Power
TODAY’S READING
Psalm 107:33-37
[The Lord] turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground. – Psalm 107:33 (NRSVUE)
One day, I looked across a valley and saw a garden of maize. I wondered why the garden had been planted in such a hot, sandy, and dry place. I was surprised there could be such green growth in an almost desert area. Then I learned that the farmer had dug wells to water his garden so that he was able to plant the maize and get a plentiful harvest.
When I seem to be stuck in barren situations, God is able to make waters spring up and bring me renewed life. Oftentimes, when we feel like we are dwelling in a desert, our needs overwhelm us. When our work seems not to be yielding anything good, we feel lifeless, barren, unfruitful. But God is able and willing to cause waters to flow in the midst of our deserts to give life, fruitfulness, and productivity — even where there seems to be no hope. So let us be encouraged by our powerful and loving God!
TODAY’S PRAYER
O Lord, may you create fruitful fields from the barren situations in our lives. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
God can bring life where there seems to be none.
PRAYER FOCUS
Gratitude for God’s power to renew
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.