THE UPPER ROOM DEVOTIONAL 26TH FEBRUARY 2025, WEDNESDAY MESSAGE
Read The Upper Room Devotional 26th February 2025 written by Sandy Larsen (Minnesota, USA)
TOPIC: Like Trees Walking Around
Today’s Reading
Mark 8:22-26
Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. – Mark 8:25 (NIV)
For playground ball games in elementary school, I was always the last one chosen for a team. No one wanted me because I could never accurately hit or catch a ball. I was hurt by the rejection, but I was even more frustrated by my own clumsiness.
When I was a young adult, I found out that I needed glasses with prism lenses to correct my double vision. Without them, I had no depth perception. No wonder I struggled at ball games as a child! If my classmates had known about my vision problem, maybe they would have been more merciful. If I had known about it, I could have been more merciful toward myself.
Just as my classmates complained about me, I often criticize people — silently or even out loud — for their mystifying behavior: How can they act so foolishly? Don’t they see how they make trouble for themselves and everybody else? Then sometimes I discover what’s really going on in their lives. They may be going through a crisis at home, or maybe they’ve suffered a great personal loss.
Like the man in today’s scripture reading, I have not seen these people clearly but like “trees walking around.” I need Jesus’ help to see them fully — as real people who face real difficulties.
Today’s Prayer
Dear Lord, help me to see other people as you see them. Amen.
Thought for the Day
Today I will look at people with compassion rather than judgment.
Prayer Focus
People I have misunderstood
The Upper Room Devotional 26th February 2025, 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. Read More