Sowers of the Word

Years ago, I began a practice when traveling and staying in a hotel. When it’s time to check out of my room, I leave a tip with a note of appreciation and an encouraging Bible verse for the hotel worker, along with my current copy of The Upper Room. Sometimes I leave the devotional book in the bedside table drawer with the Bible. I think about people traveling not for pleasure, but in an emergency or under difficult circumstances, finding themselves coping with hard times in a hotel room. 

Isaiah 55:10-11 promises that just as the rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return without watering the earth, the word of God will not return empty and will accomplish God’s desires and purposes. Wherever my copy of The Upper Room ends up, I hope that like the rain falls to bless us on earth, the prayers and inspirational writings will provide the reader strength and comfort through the Holy Spirit.