Stay Put

Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2026

Readings: 1 Corinthians 7 | Psalm 81

Corrie ten Boom never married. In the 1930s she was a watchmaker in Haarlem, living above the family shop with her father and sister, and she once hoped for a different future. Yet that unassuming household became a hiding place for Jews during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, and after the war she traveled to more than sixty countries telling people about a forgiveness that can heal even the deepest wounds. She treated her own life a doorway into a calling of eternal impact.

Paul’s advice in 1 Corinthians 7 is surprisingly tender and refreshingly unpressured. Married, single, widowed: nobody gets a lower spiritual rank. “Each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that” (1 Corinthians 7:7). He adds a principle that many of us need in the age of endless upgrades: “each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them” (1 Corinthians 7:17).

This is a clear call to presence. Wherever you are right now, whether in a full house, an empty apartment, or an awkward in-between season, the Lord is already at work. Paul frames everything with a holy perspective: “this world in its present form is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:31). So we hold relationships, jobs, and plans with open hands. You are not waiting for your real life to begin, because eternity for you has already started.

Devotional Prompts:

• What season of life are you tempted to treat as a waiting room instead of a calling?
• What might it look like to hold your plans and relationships “with open hands”?

Prayer: Lord of every season, thank You for calling us exactly where we are. Free us from comparison and restlessness, and let us serve You with undivided hearts. Help us hold loosely what is passing and cling tightly to You. Amen.