Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: GENESIS 50:15-21; ROMANS 8:18-39 My teenage desire was to belong to an encouraging community where I could bless others with my gifts. But I struggled to cling to that dream when my high school experience was a time of loneliness, anxiety, and uprooted plans. After being rejected by cliques, feeling alone at church, and living through the pandemic, I was eager to move out for college. People...

READ: GENESIS 1:27; PSALM 139:13-18; ROMANS 5:8; 8:38-39 Self-worth is something we all struggle with. Photoshopped and filtered images are plastered on every magazine, in every store, and all over social media. All the while, our own accomplishments are advertised, and our shortcomings are hidden. The world tells us that looking good and being successful are the two most important things to striv...

READ: PSALM 139:1-12; HEBREWS 4:14-16; 1 PETER 5:7 Have you ever thought about God going to school? He has attended school for as long as it’s been going on—He watches all that happens in the world, and He is with you everywhere. So when you’re struggling to make a basket in P.E.—God is there. When you can’t make sense of algebra—God is there. And when your crush doesn’t even know you’re alive—God...

READ: PSALM 143:7-8; MATTHEW 14:22-33   When worry invades each hope and dream, When fretful nights keep you awake, Keep your eyes on God.   When panic drowns your heart and mind, Give God each problem, each anxious thought. Trust in Him.   He is Master of the waves, Author of lives. Jesus, Messiah who hears each cry. Focus on Him.   Holy Trinity, Three in One, loving, Ready to respond, patiently...

READ: JUDGES 2:16-23; 10:15; 17:6 In the book of Judges, God’s people are spinning in a sin cycle—rebellion, repentance, rescue, and restoration. They cycle twelve times, once for each of the twelve judges within the book. And if we look closely, we’ll probably see ourselves in the story. Rebellion. The people rebelled against God. Instead of obeying Him, they followed their own way. We’ve all bel...

READ: PHILIPPIANS 4:4-9; HEBREWS 12:2; 1 PETER 5:6-9 Life can be overwhelming. From a bad day at school to a betrayal by people we thought were our friends, sometimes we don’t know how to respond. Feeling overwhelmed or anxious is a common problem, but it’s not a new one. Though today we have social media and busy schedules contributing to our stress, people who lived thousands of years ago felt o...

READ: JOHN 6:37-40; 10:27-30; 15:15; ROMANS 8:31-39 Willow, Madison, and Emilia had been best friends since preschool. But one day, everything changed in the concession line. Emilia said to Willow, “No one wants you here anymore!” Willow turned around to see if Emilia was talking to someone else. She wasn’t. “I’m talking to you, Willow,” said Emilia. “No one wants you here!” “Why?” Willow looked a...

READ: JOHN 1:12-13; ROMANS 5:1-11; EPHESIANS 2:1-10 It’s tough being best friends with a brain. I know because that was my story. My best friend Jean was nicknamed “The Brain” in middle school, and it stuck. The upside was she got me through my math classes. Thank you, Jean! The downside is that I put incredible pressure on myself to keep up with her, which I never could. Does getting good grades...

READ: ROMANS 8:28-39; 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-7; REVELATION 21:1-5 "No season is wasted.” I smiled when I read those words. My friend had handed the sticker to me, sensing that I needed it. She was right. Not only the words, but the picture beside them: two yellow flowers. At a particularly painful moment in my life last year, this friend had noticed yellow flowers growing in front of my old house, and...

READ: ISAIAH 40:11; JOHN 10:27-29; 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-7 "It’s okay; I’ve got you.” The parent rocks their baby, holding them close. “You’re okay.” How many times have you seen this play out? You hear a young baby crying and then see an adult rocking them or patting them on the back, soothing them. Or you hear a toddler crying and see them looking afraid of everyone around them. They want nothing to...

READ: JOHN 16:22; 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-14; REVELATION 21:1-5 "I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Through my father’s sobbing and his slurred speech, I could piece together the message: Mom had died. It didn’t really register for me then, but now, a year and a half later, it has. In the moment, accepting what I’d just heard was impossible enough, but to even consider that a future existed seemed as likely a...

READ: ISAIAH 9:6-7; 26:3-4; 53; JOHN 14:27 The book of Isaiah begins with a mess. The people’s rebellion against God was serious, and the consequences of their sin brought devastation, brokenness, and hopelessness. Things were not the way they were supposed to be. There was no peace. In Isaiah 1-12, people looked for peace in all the wrong places. They trusted in foreign kings, other gods, unfaith...

READ: GENESIS 2:7; 1 KINGS 19:11-13; JOHN 3:8; ACTS 2:1-4   The Wind is a song that echoes free Bringing my Savior close to me. In my soul I hear Him say, “I AM here, not far away.”   The Wind is a song that echoes true Singing, Christ, my Lord, of You. The living breath is breathed above Defying death and sending love.   The Wind is a call of brightening hope Though I search in thought and in dar...

READ: JONAH 1-3; LUKE 15:1-7 Picture this: God asks me to go to a new school. You know, the one all the way across town. I’ve never visited. I have no friends there. A new kid, let alone a quiet kid like me, could be turned into creamed cauliflower before lunch. And, as if changing schools isn’t enough, God wants me to talk to the people I meet— and tell them about Jesus. I’m a goner. Everything I...

READ: MATTHEW 7:3-5; LUKE 6:27-49; 1 THESSALONIANS 4:7-12 Once when I was driving home, I spotted a new sign in someone’s yard. The huge letters read: “I found your nose. It was in my business again.” The sign stayed for several years until it was taken down. Recently, my family and I noticed it was back again! Of course, we found this pretty hilarious. But it also reminded me about how we should...

READ: EXODUS 3:1-15; 4:10-17; GALATIANS 5:22-23 Inadequate. Unworthy. Unequipped. As I spent my first few days counseling at a local Christian camp, these words were never far from the edge of my thoughts. It was as though the devil were whispering discouragement into my ear. Who are you to be here, trying to speak the truth into the lives of these children? You always have trouble trying to find...

READ: MATTHEW 6:25-34; PHILIPPIANS 4:6-13 As we approach the first day of school, there can be lots of anxiety. You might have been bullied last year, and you’re scared to have to go back to your nightmare. Or you might be going to a new school, and you’re worried about having to meet new people and start over. Or maybe you’re just nervous about the stress of your schoolwork. In my own life, the b...

READ: PSALM 147; ISAIAH 40:10-12, 25-31; MATTHEW 10:26-31 Stargazing is one of my favorite things to do with my sister. We try to identify the planets and look for the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper and Orion, but our favorite stars to look at are the small V-shaped group. In it are two stars that look close together. We refer to them as our “bestie stars.” Standing in the night, looking up at t...

READ: PHILIPPIANS 2:1-11 Today’s poem is rooted in some of the names of God we find in Scripture. These names point to both His eternal greatness and His servant-like humility. I just can’t get over these “opposite but not” attributes of our unfathomable God! The more I dwell on them, the more I am astounded at the depth of His love. Only a great and immortal God could love so sacrificially, so in...

READ: EPHESIANS 4:25-32; HEBREWS 12:14-15 Apart from watching my brothers play baseball and basketball, I wasn’t much of a sports fan as a kid. Then at 19, I decided to try something new. I applied to join the group of girls who supported the baseball team at my college. I hadn’t developed a new interest in baseball; I simply wanted to find a fun activity. Surprisingly, I passed the first round of...

READ: JOHN 3:16; 15:13; ROMANS 5:6-11; 10:9-10 Have you ever known somebody who was really sick and needed a new kidney? We are born with two kidneys, like how we’re born with two lungs, but if we don’t have at least one healthy kidney, our bodies can’t clean up all the toxins that collect in our blood. Thankfully, some people who have kidney disease can go into a doctor’s office regularly for dia...

READ: PSALM 56:8; ISAIAH 25:8-9; 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-5 A single tear falls with a splat onto the hard floor. You think it’s insignificant—until you remember that He cares. God sees each tear that you cry. He will one day wipe every tear from your eyes. The tears you cried on your pillow at night when you were too sad and lonely to do anything else. He saw those tears. The tears you cried when you we...

READ: ISAIAH 9:2; 42:6, 16; 2 CORINTHIANS 4 In Israel in 1947, a young Bedouin shepherd was bored while tending his goats. To amuse himself he picked up a stone and threw it into a cave. To his amazement the sound of something breaking echoed about him. He investigated and stumbled upon clay jars with scrolls in them. He had discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls, some of the most ancient copies of most...

READ: 2 CHRONICLES 20:1-30; PSALM 149 Sweat stung my eyes as I practiced the intricate steps of my deadly dance. For the final step, I had always had trouble remembering not to hold my breath, so I imagined myself blowing a dandelion and scattering the seeds as I leapt into the air, swinging my sword in a wide arch. “You are ready,” Uyanga bowed her head in approval before turning to go. What if I...

READ: PSALMS 3:5; 4:8; 127:2; ISAIAH 26:3-9 The darkness of night is a reminder to be still and quiet. When I am in bed, there is nothing I can do to change my life or situation. When worries come up, I cannot fix them. That is not the time to consider all that is bothering me or all that I need to do. When night comes, it is time to ask God to take my worries and fears and help me to get the rest...