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The Hot Potato
Listen to today’s devo!
In your unfailing love preserve my life, that I may obey the statutes of your mouth. (Ps. 119:88)
Expanded Passage: Psalm 119:81-88
The potato was a blackened, shriveled, inedible pile of charcoal. It had been in the microwave for more than fifteen minutes. When discovered by the never-to-be chef de cuisine, black smoke was rolling from the microwave. The inside of the potato was supposed to be white and fluffy. However, as the microwave’s heat energy moved through the molecules of the potato, it changed from cold to hot to burning, and finally, to charred. The heat of the microwave put so much stress on the potato that it turned into a dehydrated cinder.
The writer of this psalm was experiencing difficult times that physically and mentally challenged him. His adversaries were slandering him unfairly and treating him in an ungodly manner. These experiences were taking vitality from him, and his life was in peril. He was going through a truly soul-wrenching period.
Through these life struggles, the writer relied on God’s love and grace. And, based on this, he begged God to sustain and revive him so he could pursue the real purpose of life—obeying God’s statutes. He was not asking God to deliver him, but to renew his heart so he could seek God’s Word.
Even though life’s trials make us feel like a charred potato, our hope is in his renewed presence of love to strengthen us for obedience.
Ask God to renew your heart to seek his Word.
Gena Duncan previously served as a writer for Light from the Word. She earned a master’s degree in nursing from Indiana Wesleyan University (IN).
© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
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By The Wesleyan Church
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Listen to today’s devo!
In your unfailing love preserve my life, that I may obey the statutes of your mouth. (Ps. 119:88)
Expanded Passage: Psalm 119:81-88
The potato was a blackened, shriveled, inedible pile of charcoal. It had been in the microwave for more than fifteen minutes. When discovered by the never-to-be chef de cuisine, black smoke was rolling from the microwave. The inside of the potato was supposed to be white and fluffy. However, as the microwave’s heat energy moved through the molecules of the potato, it changed from cold to hot to burning, and finally, to charred. The heat of the microwave put so much stress on the potato that it turned into a dehydrated cinder.
The writer of this psalm was experiencing difficult times that physically and mentally challenged him. His adversaries were slandering him unfairly and treating him in an ungodly manner. These experiences were taking vitality from him, and his life was in peril. He was going through a truly soul-wrenching period.
Through these life struggles, the writer relied on God’s love and grace. And, based on this, he begged God to sustain and revive him so he could pursue the real purpose of life—obeying God’s statutes. He was not asking God to deliver him, but to renew his heart so he could seek God’s Word.
Even though life’s trials make us feel like a charred potato, our hope is in his renewed presence of love to strengthen us for obedience.
Ask God to renew your heart to seek his Word.
Gena Duncan previously served as a writer for Light from the Word. She earned a master’s degree in nursing from Indiana Wesleyan University (IN).
© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.