Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: PSALM 55:22; MATTHEW 11:28-30; JOHN 1:19-20; 1 PETER 5:7

Monique was always considered the “responsible one.” The kind of friend who always checked in on everybody. At home, she was the one who kept the peace among siblings. And at school, she was that student who tried to get everything right. But lately, all that responsibility was starting to take its toll on her mental and emotional strength.

One day at the school cafeteria, her best friend joked, “Monique, you are basically everyone’s emotional support system—you’re our go-to person.” Though they laughed over it, the comment stung deeply—because it put words to something true. Monique truly cared about everything and everybody. And, somehow, she felt like others’ well-being was her responsibility.

That evening, as she read her Bible, she came to 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” Although she’d read this verse many times, today one specific word caught her attention: all. Not just concerns about others’ welfare. Not just pressure about peace at home. Not just worries about her grades or the kinds of stress she was willing to admit to others. All of it.

She realized she had been trying to carry burdens Jesus never asked her to shoulder. Obviously, caring for others was a Christ-like thing to do—but trying to be their healer, fixer, or savior? Definitely not. That was a huge role, and it already belonged to someone way stronger. Monique exhaled. Thank you, Jesus.

Then she prayed an intense prayer—naming every fear, every pressure, every item on her “I’ll deal with it later” list that she’d shoved into her emotional and mental backpack. As she prayed, something began to lighten inside her: a sense of relief. • Sammy Mwatha

• Can you relate to today’s fictional story? Even if you’re not considered the “responsible one” who always tries to do everything right, chances are you still have responsibilities and anxieties weighing you down because, well, you’re human. Jesus cares for you deeply, and He doesn’t call you to handle everything on your own. Instead, He calls you to trust Him. And He will help you let go of whatever is not yours to carry. The truth is, you’re allowed to take a backseat, to rest, to breathe…because you are allowed to cast your cares on the Lord. Consider taking some time to name whatever is in your emotional and mental backpack to Jesus, thanking Him for carrying these burdens so you don’t have to.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 23; JOHN 13:35; EPHESIANS 3:14-21; 2 CORINTHIANS 1:1-10

From the moment I sat down across from the young woman on the train, I felt overwhelming waves of sorrow rolling off her. She was perhaps in her late twenties or early thirties, with large blue eyes and blonde hair half-heartedly swept up. Her significant other held her hand tenderly, speaking softly to her in German. I couldn’t understand a word they said, but my soul was weighed down by their collective sorrow.

Perhaps she had lost a much-longed-for baby, or another loved one. Whatever her grief, it was profound. I began praying for her in my heart, lifting this sweet young woman before God’s throne. I prayed for comfort. I prayed Psalm 23 over her. I prayed that God would wrap His arms around her and convey to her aching heart how wide, long, high, and deep His love is for her.

Tears began spilling from her eyes, and then mine. Language is a barrier, but not for grief. I shared in her sorrow and wept with her. She took her glasses off to wipe the tracks of tears from her cheeks, and I could bear it no longer. I reached for her hand across the small train table. I motioned that I was compelled to pray for her—hoping that palms pressed together might be understood as a symbol of prayer.

I prayed aloud to my Jesus on her behalf, this beautiful young woman who seemed to be in desperate need. Jesus, you know her name and the depths of her misery. You can fill the empty spaces in her heart and bring the comfort she needs. Be with her now; be her peace. Surround her with your loving arms; carry her through this grief.

When I left my seat across from the young woman on the train, I placed my hand on top of hers. I looked into her tear-filled eyes and simply smiled. I hope that she felt what I couldn’t say: Love. • Savannah Coleman

• When we’re hurting, Jesus weeps with us (John 11:35). Likewise, He calls us to enter into one another’s sorrow and mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15). Can you think of a time someone shared in your sorrow? Or you shared in someone else’s? What was that like?

• Consider taking a moment to pray for someone who is hurting. Even if you don’t know the particulars of their situation, God does, and He wants to show His love to them (Romans 8:26-27).

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4 (WEB)

READ: JOB 42; ROMANS 12:15

The book of Job wrestles with a question we’ve been asking for a long time: “Why do we suffer?” While we may rush to answers like “suffering makes us stronger” or “only bad people suffer,” these fall flat when we see a friend in heart-wrenching, life-sucking, can’t-get-out-of-bed anguish. And they aren’t the answers God gives in the book of Job.

The Bible tells us that Job was “blameless—a man of complete integrity” (Job 1:1). But God permitted Satan to steal Job’s wealth, attack Job’s health, and kill Job’s children. Job’s friends traveled to be with him, and they mourned with him silently for a week. Then Job spoke, cursing the day he was born.

But, instead of comforting him, Job’s friends insisted he must have done something wrong to deserve this terrible suffering. They argued back and forth for several chapters as Job defended his innocence and made a legal case against God for his unjust suffering. Meanwhile, his friends repeatedly accused Job of some forgotten or overlooked sin in his past.

Finally, God spoke.

But God didn’t say, “Hey Job, here’s why I’ve allowed you to suffer.” Instead, He revealed His glory in a whirlwind and reminded Job that He is the loving, sovereign Creator of the universe. God showed Job and his friends that He is there, and He is bigger than suffering. His reasons for allowing suffering aren’t simple, and they aren’t always for us to understand.

I know that’s not the answer we want. Or at least, it’s not the answer I want. I would like a precise, point-by-point breakdown of exactly why all the suffering had to happen. But that’s not what God gives us. He doesn’t give us a list of reasons. Instead, He gives us Himself. And, at least for Job, that’s enough. After he heard God’s answer, Job said, “I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me…I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes” (Job 42:3-5).

As believers, we can know that Jesus dwells with us in the dust and ashes of this broken world, sharing in our suffering and promising that sin and death will not have the last word. As the all-knowing, all-powerful, loving God of the universe, Jesus became human, suffered on the cross to defeat sin, rose from the grave to defeat death, and is returning to destroy suffering forever. Jesus knows personally what suffering feels like, and He is determined to free us from the grip of sin and all its effects (Hebrews 4:14-16; Revelation 21:1-5). And even as we wait for the day suffering will be over, Jesus is with us through the Holy Spirit, comforting us in all our troubles (John 14:16-18; 2 Corinthians 1:3-5).

So where does that leave us?

Well, whenever we’re suffering, we can rest in Jesus’s loving arms. We can bring Him all our pain, our anger, our questions, and our frustrations. God may not show up in a whirlwind like He did for Job, but He is right there with us, inviting us to fix our eyes on Him.

And when our friends are suffering, we can sit with them in their pain. Hurt with them. Love them. And point them to Jesus, who loves them even more than we do, and who is returning to destroy all sin, suffering, and death—forever. • Taylor Eising

• Because the God who holds us through suffering is so big yet also knows our suffering personally, we can bring all our hurts and pains to Him through lament. He can handle it. What laments do you want to bring to Him today, either...

READ: PSALM 66:19-20; MARK 5:21-43; JAMES 1:19

You know the feeling when you’re having a conversation with someone, and then you notice them looking at their phone while you’re talking? When this happens to me, I’m tempted to stop and ask, “Are you listening to me?” Because I wonder if my words actually matter to them.

Listening is an important part of communicating, but we often take it for granted in our busy lives. Demands like homework, jobs, and extracurriculars fill our schedules. To stay caught up, we may try juggling several things at once. The problem is, all this multitasking can affect our ability to really listen and love others well.

Jesus was a good listener. In Mark 5, Jesus was on His way to save a twelve year-old girl who was close to death. You can imagine the girl’s father and Jesus’s disciples urging Him to hurry. But along the way, Jesus felt the pain of someone else near Him, and He stopped to help. The person in pain was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve long years. Jesus listened to her story and then said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over” (verse 34).

In this moment, and throughout His ministry, Jesus demonstrated how listening involves more than just hearing words. He paid attention. He let people know their value and responded in love. He even took time to listen as He suffered on the cross (Luke 23:39-43).

James 1:19 says we should be “quick to listen.” We can learn to listen and love others well as we remember that Jesus is always listening to us, always loving us. • Kristine Brown

• Can you think of a time someone truly listened to you? What was that like?

• How can listening to others well show the love of Jesus?

• James 1:19 tells us to be “quick to listen” and “slow to speak.” What could it look like for you to practice this in your own relationships?

But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Psalm 66:19 (NLT)

READ: JEREMIAH 1:1-9; 11:1-5; 1 TIMOTHY 4:12; 2 TIMOTHY 2:23-26

Jeremiah was a young man when God called him to be a prophet—a messenger to speak to the people on God’s behalf. At that time in Judah, the religious leaders had abandoned God’s Word. As a result, widows, orphans, and immigrants were being taken advantage of—in clear violation of God’s Word—and the leaders weren’t doing anything about it. Although people were worshipping God in the temple, many were also going out and worshipping false Gods, and some were even engaging in the horrible pagan practice of child sacrifice. Jeremiah was to tell the people of Judah to repent of their evil and follow God instead.

Even though Jeremiah felt too young and unqualified for this task, God still worked through him to warn the people that judgment was coming, to call them to repentance, and even to point forward to the hope of God’s promised Messiah (Jeremiah 30-33).

Sadly, nobody listened.

People don’t always want to hear what a younger person is telling them. Older people sometimes believe they are wiser than young people. And sometimes younger people don’t want to hear what an older person is telling them either. At times, we all resist being told the truth.

Yet, Jesus tells us, “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32). God doesn’t want us to be held captive to sin; He wants to free us! That’s why God asks each and every Christian, no matter their age, to tell His wondrous story—which centers around Jesus the Messiah dying and rising again to save us from sin. God calls us to teach others to follow Jesus. Yet it is truly difficult to tell others about Jesus when they willingly turn away and reject the good news.

Though people didn’t listen to Jeremiah and even threatened his life, he persevered and spoke the truth boldly and in love—just as all believers are called to do (Ephesians 4:15; 6:19-20). He listened for God’s voice and spoke when God commanded.

In the same way, even when no one listens, God asks us to speak and tell about Him, and He promises that He will be with us as we do (Matthew 28:20). Like He did for Jeremiah, God will guide and empower us to tell the true story of the gospel, and He will work through our words. • Anna Gregory

• What is the hardest thing for you about telling others about Jesus? What can 2 Timothy 2:23-26 show us about what it means to witness well—even when no one listens? (For more about the gospel, and how to share it with others, see our "Know Jesus" page.)

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Ephesians 4:15 (NLT)