LifeLink Devotions for Friday, January 16, 2026

The elevator door began to open, and as it did I took my first step to enter. I stopped before taking the second step when I saw how crowded it was in that little box. Yet the people inside motioned me to come forward as they started to squeeze more tightly than before to make room. As I entered, I realized it would not be easy to turn around, so I stood facing all of them as my back was brushed by the closing door.

Have you ever stood facing the people in an elevator? It’s uncomfortable. There are two reasons for the awkwardness. First, there’s the realization that everyone in there is staring at you. They are evaluating you. They are wondering if you will say something, and if you do, will you have bad breath or will you spit as you speak. Our insecurities explode to the surface in such situations, and we imagine all kinds of things that the other people must be thinking.

Second, there’s the reality that you are facing the wrong direction and blocking their exit. You stand opposed to the majority, and that’s uncomfortable in any situation.

How much power do you have in that box to change people’s minds about where they want to go? Absolutely none if all you consider is the exit door.  But you do have the power to change their mind about when they will use that door. They may have gotten on the elevator to go to a particular floor, but it is possible for you to convince them to change that plan. It may not be probable or practical, but it is possible. You have more power than you think to affect the direction of other people’s lives.

We need to remember that when by our faith in Jesus Christ we stand opposed to the direction the world is taking. The Bible is full of stories about the power of one. I think we as Christians have started to believe the lie of our Enemy that the current of culture is too powerful to resist. Every day we get on the proverbial elevator of life and turn to face the same direction as everyone already there. We avoid contact with others and leave them to their own choices, focusing only on the numbers above the door as they announce the arrival of our destination. We know very little about anyone else around us, and don’t seem to care why they are going where they are going. We miss countless opportunities to invite them to make a different choice.

That is the picture presented to us in Isaiah 59, verses 2-15. It would benefit you to read them and see how appropriately they describe our current culture.

Then in verse 16 we read God’s response to what is happening. “He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;”

It is into this elevator of injustice and sin that God wants us to step and face the other way. He did it. Jesus came and lived His life facing the opposite direction from everyone around Him. And while He went against the flow, He invited others to consider changing their direction.

That’s exactly how we are supposed to live. Go against the flow and influence others to join you.  

Pastor John