January 23, 2026 Devo

January 23rd, 2026

Powerful Words from the Prophets
“When Ahaz, son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, set out to attack Jerusalem. However, they were unable to carry out their plan…Go out to meet King Ahaz…Tell him to stop worrying.” – Isaiah 7:1, 3-4 (NLT)
“God Says to Stop Worrying”

“90% of what we worry about never happens.” Have you ever heard that statistic? It’s actually true, according to research. There have been a number of studies around this topic, and by and large, they all come back with pretty close to the same results. Penn State, Cornell, and a host of other universities and organizations all reported that their findings were in the same range. Not only that, but of the 10% that DID have their worries come true, 7% said it wasn’t nearly as bad as they had feared. In other words, worry is pretty much a useless, if not destructive, exercise.
We find this truth in our passage today. Ahaz, who was the king of Judah, heard that Syria and Israel were plotting to attack him. He began to panic, which led him down a path of fear and self-preservation. Had he taken time to seek God, he would have discovered that God had already nipped his problem in the bud. Yes, those kings were plotting to attack. But God was making sure it would never come to pass. His fear had no basis in reality. He was a slave to his imagination that was focusing on the worst instead of on The One.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? For many of us, this represents the pattern of our lives. We know God is there, but we don’t really believe He’s right HERE. We know God sees everything, but we’re not really convinced He sees US. We may even believe God is in charge. But we’re not sure He is in charge of OUR situation. So we worry…which is like praying to our imaginations. We imagine the worst. We imagine the catastrophic. We imagine the consequences of the catastrophic. Our worry takes us to an imaginary world where all our fears come true. And our trust in God gets left far behind.
Listen to the words that the Lord had Isaiah speak to Ahaz. “Tell him to stop worrying.” Those are the words He speaks to YOU today. Turn your panic into prayer. Release your grip on fear and take hold of faith. Stop being a victim of your imagination by getting back to truth. The truth is that 90% of what you worry about will never happen. And that other 10%? Well, that’s why we have a gracious and mighty God! That’s God’s Word for you today.