The Connection Corner

A daily source of encouragement and inspiration to connect your heart to hope and faith.

Stuck Is Not Your Story

Daily Devotional, David Hall, Stories About Songs

John 12:26 – Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.

There’s a line in CAIN’s song Rise Up that gets me every time:

“Are you too scared to move and walk out of this tomb?”

That’s a striking question because sometimes what holds us back isn’t that we don’t know we’re stuck.

It’s that the stuck place starts to feel like the new normal.

Familiar, even.

Isn’t that relatable?

But let me tell you, you’re in good company.

In the Bible, Lazarus knew something about being stuck, too.

He had been dead for four days when Jesus arrived. There was a stone over the tomb, his sisters were devastated, and there was absolutely no reasonable expectation that Lazarus was coming back.

But then Jesus called his name.

I love that detail.

Jesus didn’t shout some generic instructions into the cemetery.

He called Lazarus.

And Lazarus came out.

But here’s what I don’t want us to miss: Lazarus didn’t come out of the tomb just to wander around and eventually find another tomb to hide in.

His new life meant a new relationship with Jesus.

In fact, John 12 tells us that Lazarus was sitting at a table with Jesus shortly afterward.

And then, in that same chapter, Jesus says, “Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am.”

Now, I can’t say with any certainty that Lazarus was still in the room when Jesus said those words. I’ll leave that part to your imagination.

But don’t miss the bigger picture.

Jesus doesn’t just call us out of something.

He calls us after Him.

Maybe you’ve spent a long time believing the lies, carrying the shame, or living inside a pattern that feels impossible to escape.

Maybe the place that once felt like a prison has simply become familiar.

Hear Jesus’ voice today.

The grave isn’t your home.

And when Jesus calls you out of the grave, He isn’t just calling you away from your old life.

He’s reaching out His hand and saying, “Follow Me.”

So, rise up.

Take off your grave clothes.

And follow Jesus.

He’s calling.

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

What is one area of your life where you’ve felt stuck for so long that it has started to feel normal?
Are there lies, shame, habits, or patterns that Jesus may be calling you to leave behind? What makes it difficult to step out?
What does it mean to you that Jesus doesn’t simply call you out of something—He calls you to follow Him?
What might “taking off your grave clothes” look like in your life right now? Is there something from your old life you keep putting back on?
If Jesus is saying, “Follow Me,” what is one step you could take today to move toward Him?

L Y R I C S

Rise Up (Lazarus)
Come Forth
Dead man open your eyes
The Lord ain’t finished with you
Wake up You sleeper
Watch what he can do
Dead man open your eyes
Jesus is calling for you

In the dark and all alone
Growin comfortable
Are you too
Scared to move
And walk out of this tomb

Buried underneath
The lies that you believed
Safe and sound
Stuck in the ground
Too lost to be found

You’re just asleep
And it’s time to leave

Come on and rise up
Take a breath, you’re alive now
Can’t you hear the voice of Jesus calling us
Out from the grave like Lazarus
You’re brand new
The power of death couldn’t hold you
Can’t you hear the voice of Jesus calling us
Out from the grave like Lazarus

When He said your name
The thing that filled your veins
Was more than blood
It’s the kind of love
That washes sin away

Now the door is open wide
The stones been rolled aside
The old is gone
The Light has come
So…

He’s calling us to walk out of the dark
He’s giving us new resurrected hearts

September 20, 2026/by David Hall

The Treasure You Can’t See

Daily Devotional, Tammi Arender

Colossians 3:1-3 – Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

Helen Keller once said, “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.”

And isn’t that true?

You can’t hold peace in your hands. You can’t put love in a jar. You can’t wrap up hope with a bow or measure kindness.

Some of the most valuable things in life are the very things you can’t see or touch.

But we live in a world that constantly tells us to chase bigger houses, newer cars, better things, and more stuff. It’s easy to spend our lives searching for things we can touch, see, and point to.

But the things we can hold aren’t always the things that hold us together.

Think about the joy of a child’s laughter. The comfort of a friend’s prayer. The reassurance of knowing Jesus is with you, even when life doesn’t make sense.

Those are the things we remember.

That’s part of what Paul is getting at in Colossians 3. He tells believers to set their minds on the things above—to keep looking toward Christ and the realities of the new life we have in Him.

Because our real life is now hidden with Christ in God.

In other words, what is visible may or may not be impressive, but what is eternal is what truly lasts.

That doesn’t mean the things we see are bad. A home can be a blessing. A car can be useful. Beautiful things can bring genuine joy.

But they were never meant to carry the weight of our identity or become the measure of a meaningful life.

So today, pause long enough to notice what you might normally overlook.

The love you’ve been given.

The peace God has provided.

The people who have prayed for you along the way.

The hope you have because of Jesus.

Set your sights there.

Because the things that matter most may not be the things you can see or hold.

They’re the things that hold you together—and they are found in Christ.

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

What are you spending the most time thinking about or chasing right now? Does it reflect the things Paul says to set your mind on?
What is something invisible—peace, love, hope, faith, friendship—that has meant more to you than something you could buy or own?
Are there earthly things you’ve allowed to carry too much weight in your identity or sense of worth? What would it look like to place that weight back on Christ?
What is one blessing in your life that you might normally overlook? Take a moment today to thank God for it.
What would change in your day if you intentionally “set your sights” on Christ before everything else?

September 19, 2026/by Tammi Arender

Healing the Hidden Hurt

Daily Devotional, Denise Pagano

Isaiah 61:1 — The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.

One weekend recently, I got to help my friend Laura at her daughter Hosanna’s wedding. Hosanna is a girl I adore, and she had me doing all those little wedding details I absolutely love.

There were tables to set up, decorations to arrange, and a hundred other little things. Even a dessert table. And I love doing dessert tables!

But as I stood there working, I realized just how good God really is.

Just a few months earlier, when my son got married, I was supposed to help set up that day too. But at the last minute, I wasn’t allowed to.

And if I’m honest, it hurt so much.

I left that wedding reception in a panic, feeling invisible and unneeded. It was heartbreaking to feel like I was just a name on a birth certificate.

But now, months later, I was standing at another wedding, doing every single thing I had dreamed of doing for someone I love.

And Hosanna had no idea what had happened before. I hadn’t told her my story. She simply asked me to help.

And somewhere between the decorations and that dessert table, I remembered something about God:

He comes near to the brokenhearted.

Isaiah 61 is a beautiful picture of the ministry of Jesus. He came to bring good news, to heal what is broken, to bring freedom where people have been bound by pain, sin, shame, and sorrow.

And sometimes, healing doesn’t happen all at once.

Sometimes God meets us months later, in an ordinary moment, and lets us realize, “Look what I’ve done. Look how I’ve cared for you. Look how I’m restoring something you thought was lost.”

I’m telling you this with tears in my eyes, but they aren’t tears of sadness anymore.

They’ve become tears of joy.

Friend, God sees the hurt you never had the words for.

He knows it. He sees it. And He is not distant from it.

God understands deep, deep agony. He knows what suffering feels like because His own Son, Jesus, willingly went to the cross for you and for me.

And maybe today, there’s a place in your heart you’ve never really talked about with anyone.

Maybe you don’t even know how to put it into words.

But you can bring it to Jesus.

Bring Him the hurt. Bring Him the disappointment. Bring Him the people you love. Bring Him the things you don’t understand.

You may not be able to find all the right words to pray.

But let me tell you something:

He already sees it.

And even more than that…

He cares.

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

Is there a hurt in your life that you’ve never really had the words to explain to anyone? What would it look like to bring that hurt honestly to Jesus?
Have you ever experienced a moment when God seemed to bring unexpected healing or restoration to something that had deeply hurt you? What did that moment mean to you?
Is there a disappointment you’re still carrying because you feel unseen, unwanted, or unneeded? How does it change things to remember that God sees you completely?
What would it look like today to bring Jesus not only your pain, but also the people you love?
Where do you need to remember today: “He already sees it, and He cares”?