The Connection Corner

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

Stop Second Guessing

2 Corinthians 5:7 — For we walk by faith, not by sight.

That’s not just a nice suggestion. That’s how Scripture describes the life of faith. But if I’m being honest, I think a lot of us treat it like one.

Let me prove it to you.

Think about your laundry detergent. Seriously. Go look at the cap. How much are you supposed to put in there? There are little lines inside the cap that tell you how much to use. Somebody who, presumably, knows what they’re talking about measured it out for you.

And yet…

How much do you actually put in?

Because what you should use is way less than you think it should be. Many times, it’s not even half a cap, and I look at that little line and think, “That can’t possibly be enough.”

So, I pour a little more… and then a little more. And eventually, I just pour until my heart says, “Okay, that looks about right.”

Which is funny, because they already told me!

But somehow, standing there with a pile of dirty clothes, I became the detergent expert.

And that’s where this gets a little uncomfortable, because I think we do the same thing with God.

He tells us something, and we immediately start looking at our circumstances and focusing on our feelings.

We look at the size of the problem. We look at the size of the mess. We look at everything that could go wrong, and then we look back at what God has said and think, “Okay, but… surely You meant a little more than that. I need a little more certainty and a lot more explanation.”

But faith means trusting God and learning to move forward with Him even when we cannot see the whole picture yet.

That doesn’t mean our problems are small. It means God is trustworthy even when what He has given us feels small compared to what we are facing.

So today, when you find yourself asking God for just a little bit more information, more certainty, or more explanation… pause.

Ask yourself whether you really need more information from Him, or whether you simply need to trust what He has already said.

Faith may not always let us see where the road is going, but it teaches us to keep walking with the One who does.

Maybe what He has given you really is enough.

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

Where in your life are you asking God for more certainty, more explanation, or more information right now?
What circumstances are making it difficult for you to trust what God has already said?
Have you ever seen God prove Himself trustworthy in a situation where you couldn’t see how things would work out?
What would it look like for you to “walk by faith” in the situation you’re facing today?
Is there something God has already given you—His Word, His promises, His presence—that you need to trust is enough for today?

September 17, 2026/by Bri Dunn

The Hot Water Test

Daily Devotional, Tammi Arender

James 1:2-3 — Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

You’ve probably heard the saying that a woman is like a teabag—you never know her strength until you drop her in hot water.

Yeah, I feel like I have been dropped inside of a pot of boiling water lately, and honestly, I don’t really like the hot water. None of us do.

None of us ask for it. We don’t wake up hoping for illness or heartbreak or disappointment. We don’t put financial struggles on our calendars or pray for uncertainty.

But sometimes the hot water comes anyway.

When it does, it can feel like everything is being tested all at once. The things we thought we could handle suddenly feel heavier. The questions get louder. The answers seem farther away. And sometimes we find ourselves wondering how much more we can take.

But maybe there is something happening in those moments that we can’t see yet.

James tells us to consider it joy when we face trials because the testing of our faith produces perseverance.

That can be a hard thing to hear when you are actually in the middle of the trial. It’s one thing to read about perseverance when life is going well. It’s another thing entirely when you are the one sitting in the hot water.

But James isn’t saying the trial itself is good. He’s showing us that God can use what is hard to produce something good in us.

The pressure can reveal things in us that God is using to grow our faith, and maybe that’s why the hot water matters. The strength we thought we didn’t have can show up. The faith we thought was small can hold on. The trust we thought was fragile can somehow make it through another day.

And maybe you are in that hot water right now. Maybe you didn’t ask for it, and you certainly wouldn’t have chosen it.

But you are not there alone.

God is still working in you, even when you can’t see what He is producing, and the faith He is building in you may be stronger than you realize.

Sometimes you don’t discover your strength until you are tested.

And sometimes you don’t discover how faithful God has been to strengthen you until you find yourself in the heat.

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

What “hot water” are you walking through right now, and how is it affecting your faith?
When life gets difficult, is your first response to ask “Why me?” or to ask “God, what are You doing in me?”
Can you think of a difficult season when God strengthened your faith or helped you endure more than you thought you could?
What might God be growing in you through the trial you’re facing right now?
What would it look like today to trust that God is still working, even if you can’t yet see what He is producing?

September 16, 2026/by Tammi Arender

Don’t Rehearse The Regret

Brendan McClain, Daily Devotional

2 Corinthians 10:5 — We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

There I was, minding my own business, and suddenly I got assaulted by my past.

All I wanted was a nice, quiet morning… but instead, I was left reliving the time I face-planted down the stairs in middle school.

It doesn’t stop there.

I get up and head to work, hoping music will drown it out, but nope. I’m replaying that conversation I completely fumbled three years ago.

By the time I arrive at the office, I sit at my desk and try to push through the project in front of me, but I’m distracted again. This time by the joke I made to my boss that made me look like an idiot.

Why do I do that?

Can you relate?

We often think of anxiety as fear of the future, but sometimes, it’s the past that grips us just as tightly. If we’re not careful, those memories can begin to shape how we live moving forward.

Anxiety can cripple us. It can affect our daily interactions and hold us back from being who Christ created us to be.

Scripture tells us to take every thought captive and bring it to Christ. That doesn’t mean we’ll never have painful thoughts or memories again. It means learning to recognize the thoughts that keep pulling us backward, bring them to Christ, and refuse to let them run the show.

When Christ died for us, He didn’t just offer forgiveness for our sin. He also gives us freedom from the condemnation and shame that can keep us trapped in our past.

The memories may still exist. The regret may still surface. The painful moments may still come to mind. But in Christ, they don’t have to control us.

They can be shadows, not chains.

That’s why the old hymn tells us to turn our eyes toward Jesus and look fully into His wonderful face. In the light of His glorious grace, the things that once seemed so big begin to grow strangely dim.

So, what if today, when that old memory comes back, you don’t rehearse it all over again?

What if, instead, you bring it to Jesus and look at Him?

His grace is bigger than the version of your past that keeps trying to resurrect itself.

Because in Christ, there isn’t just forgiveness for our past.

There is freedom from it.

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

What past memory, regret, or painful thought do you find yourself replaying most often?
When that thought comes back, what does it make you believe about yourself, your past, or your future?
What would it look like to take that thought captive and bring it honestly to Jesus instead of rehearsing it again?
Are there places where shame or regret from your past is still influencing the way you live today?
What truth about Jesus and His grace do you need to remember the next time your past tries to pull you backward?