Bigger than Ourselves

I enjoy writing but often hesitate to share my words, wondering if they make any difference. Although The Upper Room has published a couple of my meditations, I still doubted the importance of the words I shared. 

Recently, I read a meditation in The Upper Room called “Praying Together” that was published on May 19, 2025. It was written by Kaori Yano from Tokyo, Japan. The writer explained that for the past several years, their church has continued to hold a prayer service every day of the year using The Upper Room to structure their time of prayer and worship. They read the devotional and take turns sharing what spoke to them in the daily reading. The writer noted that the pastor often refers to the accompanying scripture as “providentially” chosen for them. I sat still for a few moments and let that sink in. This meant that they had read the devotions I had written for The Upper Room! I tried to picture it in my mind: a church from a different culture, speaking a different language, located on the other side of the world, reading the meditations I’d written; a church whose pastor believed the scripture provided in those meditations was chosen by God specifically for them. 

As I thought about the words I’d shared in those devotions I’d written, I imagined a group of believers finding meaning in discussing what those words meant to them personally. My understanding of the work we do for God greatly expanded! We may think the things we do for him don’t matter much, or that the gifts he gives us are of little importance. Sharing our gifts allows us to participate in something much bigger than ourselves — something bigger than we may ever know. We can take whatever God has given us — a skill, a talent, an encouraging word — and trust that God will faithfully use it for God’s glory and the good of others. Our job is simply to offer whatever we have.