March 12, 2026 Devo

Our oldest son was a real pain when he was in high school. He had always been independent, headstrong, and very smart. When he became a teenager, he got an attitude to go with it. I traveled a good bit during those years, which is probably the only way he lived through it. But that left his mother to war with him regularly over school, girls, curfew, and his not being respectful. In all honesty, it got pretty ugly at times.
Just before he left for college for a year, he had one of those “school of hard knocks” lessons that changed him. After a year away, he decided he wanted to come home and finish school in the city where we lived. Thankfully, because of a major attitude adjustment, he was much easier to live with. One day, after being home for several months, he and I had a nice conversation in the kitchen. When we finished, he walked to his room. Not even a minute later, he came back into the kitchen. He said, “Dad, I just want to thank you and Mom for putting up with me through high school. I know I wasn’t easy to live with. Many of my friends’ parents kicked them out when they turned 18, but you guys have let me come home and keep going to school. I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate it.” My jaw dropped as I looked at him and said, “Who are you and what have you done with my son?!”
Sometimes you have to get down the road a little bit and look back to have a perspective of gratitude. I know for myself, I find myself spending more and more of my prayer time thanking God for what He’s already done than I do asking Him for more. I’m so much more aware of His grace. I’m so much more aware of His blessings. I’m so much more conscious of the fact that He has been endlessly patient, faithful, and good to me all the years of my life. Like the Israelites in our passage today and my oldest son, I see now what I couldn’t see then. Our God is a Good, Good Father.
How about YOU? Do you find yourself complaining today about what God HASN’T or ISN’T doing for you, or are you aware of the depth of His Kindness towards you? In a world that says, “What have you done for me LATELY,” let us be a people who are aware that God has already done far beyond for us than we’ve ever deserved. See the blessings today. Recognize the holiness of God. Then stand in awe that the God of Israel loves YOU! Sometimes we have to grow up to get grateful. That’s God’s Word for you today.