Daily Devotional for April 10, 2020
Who Will You Listen To?
A dodgeball whizzed past Grace’s head, and she ducked, toppling over the plastic chair she’d been sitting in. I’ve had enough of this, she thought. The only time anyone notices me is when I get in the way of their games. She grabbed her backpack and marched out of the gym.
In the bathroom, Grace curled up on the floor behind a blue stall door. It was safe here, better here. Away from the people, away from the noise.
“Breathe,” she whispered, but her breaths just got choppier and tears swelled under her eyes. Even at church, people just didn’t get it. Nobody likes the quiet people. You have to be strong, athletic, pretty. And Grace was none of those things.
“I’m junk.” The words seeped through her skin, stung every square inch till it all felt numb. “Nobody needs me here. Nobody wants me.”
She knew it was wrong though. All those Bible verses she’d memorized in church, all the things the teachers and pastors had said, came flooding back. God made you, on purpose. Jesus died for you to make you His.
“God, if You love me, why won’t You give me friends?” Grace asked.
He gave His only Son.
Grace sat for a few minutes, thinking. She knew it was true. Jesus was the best friend she could ever have. He didn’t laugh at people or call them names. He talked to lonely people, like the woman at the well. He healed them, even when they were dirty like the lepers. He loved people and reached out to them.
Maybe He could help her reach out to people too.
She still had tears on her cheeks, but she stood up and took a few deep breaths. “Okay, God. You’re right. Thanks for reminding me how much You love me. Help me listen to the truth of Your Word and not the lies in my head.”
Grace went back to the gym and took a seat against the wall. She felt a tap on her shoulder and spun around to see Emmie, the girl who always had a pencil stuck in her choppy brown hair. “Hey, Grace. I’m practicing sketching people. Would you be my model?”
Grace smiled and nodded. “That would be great.” OLIVIA WHITE
How about you?
Are you being told lies? Lies that you don’t matter or that nobody loves you? Maybe you’re hearing those lies inside your own head. Don’t listen to them. Satan uses lies to isolate us from God and others. He doesn’t want us knowing or sharing the truth that we are deeply loved by God, who sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us. When you feel discouraged, listen to the truth of God’s Word.
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