THE UPPER ROOM 5 APRIL 2024 DEVOTIONAL, FRIDAY MESSAGE
TOPIC: Storms in Life
TODAY’S READING
Mark 9:14-29
Cast your burden on the Lord — he will support you! God will never let the righteous be shaken! – Psalm 55:22 (CEB)
“My legs feel numb, Mom,” exclaimed my 14-year-old daughter. “They have felt numb for the past month.” The diagnosis was multiple sclerosis — a neurological disease involving the nervous system. Periods of blindness and loss of mobility were difficult to endure for a young girl who enjoyed an active life. Steroids were effective but came with side effects.
As a widowed mother, I felt alone and forlorn. My dreams for my daughter seemed to crumble before me. However, my daughter maintained her zeal for life and continued to live each day with a cheerful smile. She accepted her diagnosis more quickly than I did.
I soon realized that only Christ could replace my desperation with peace. God has not promised us a life free from stress and worry, but God will never leave us. When we bring our worries to God and trust that God can carry us through life’s storms, our joy need not fluctuate with our circumstances. God is waiting for us to hand our worries over so that we can find peace.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Dear Lord, help us to rejoice and to trust you in all circumstances. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
When I face turbulent waters, God never leaves nor forsakes me.
PRAYER FOCUS
Parents struggling with a child’s diagnosis
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.