Words of Hope Daily Devotional
Grateful for What Has Been
Read: Psalm 139
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! (v. 23)
Are you grateful for how your life has gone so far? Perhaps you can readily praise God for the family he put you in, the friends he has blessed you with, or the talents he gave you. Or have you spent the past weeks, months, or even years asking God why life is so hard or full of pain?
Whether your life until now has been filled with the sweetest of moments or the hardest of times, God wants to draw you near. He has faithfully brought you to this point for his purpose, one that is far greater than you may imagine, and you can trust him. Whether you’re experiencing extremely good days right now or a very challenging time or you’re living somewhere in between the two, you can ask God to examine your heart and try your thoughts, just as the psalmist did. God is able to use your past, good or bad, to make you more like him through every day to come.
Verse 16 of today’s reading from The Message says, “Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” God knew all of it, everything you would experience, choose, and endure, before any of it happened. He has never left or forsaken you, and he never will (Heb. 13:5).
As you pray, ask God to help you be grateful for his past providence.
About the Author
Joy Petroelje serves as the grants manager for a faith-based international nonprofit organization. Aside from work, she enjoys family time, coffee or dinner with friends, writing, reading, and running.
In Times of Need
Read: Matthew 5:1-16 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (v. 3) Today’s reading takes us back to the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus had a captive audience eager to hear his every word.
In Times of Plenty
Read: Proverbs 3:1-18 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. (v. 5) It’s easy to want more, isn’t it? More money. More things. More of what someone else has. And if
Gratitude Takes Focus
Read: Matthew 6:19-34 The eye is the lamp of the body. (v. 22) The closing verses of Matthew 6 are one of my favorite portions of Scripture. The reminders there of God’s all-encompassing care for us for today, for tomorrow,
Giving in Gratitude
Read: Galatians 6:1-10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone. (v. 10) In the United States, we’re approaching Thanksgiving, a day when we pause and reflect on God’s provision throughout another year, and his enduring
Gratitude
Read: Psalm 100 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! (v. 4) Pastor, author, and speaker Max Lucado has defined gratitude as this: “More aware of what you have than
Prayer in Heaven
Read: Revelation 4 Day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy.” (v. 8) We don’t know the first words someone prayed when “people began to call upon the name of the LORD” (Gen. 4:26). We do know