Words of Hope Daily Devotional
START EVERY DAY WITH HOPE
Get the Words of Hope Devotional and get daily encouragement to love God, read His Word, and meet with Him in prayer. Available in print and email.
START EVERY DAY WITH HOPE
Get the Words of Hope Devotional and get daily encouragement to love God, read His Word, and meet with Him in prayer. Available in print and email.
THE DEVOTIONAL IS AVAILABLE IN YOUR EMAIL AND IN PRINT.
The Words of Hope Devotional is a non-profit, donor-supported publication whose goal is to encourage readers to grow in faith through the practice of daily Bible reading and prayer.
DINNER WITH JESUS
Breakfast on the Beach
Finding Our Safe Place
Read: Psalm 46
Be still, and know that I am God. (v. 10)
Natural disasters are scary. Destroyed homes, loss of life, and the chaos of displacement—experiencing it ourselves is devastating, but even seeing images in the news and on social media can leave us feeling vulnerable, helpless, angry, and grief-stricken in search of safety and reassurance. So, what can we do when things get out of control? Here, God asks us to do an incredibly tough thing: he tells us to “be still” (v. 10).
In difficult times, our tendency might be to try to manipulate outcomes or blot out fear through action. But instead, God calls us to do nothing. In translating the original language, to “be still” means to “sink.” Ironically enough, we are not sinking beneath the crushing waves of despair. Instead, we sink into the comforting arms and protection of God. He is not only with us but becomes our safe place right where we are. However out of control a situation might feel, God’s all-powerful hand is at work, and he remains our “refuge and strength” in times of trouble (v. 1).
Our faith empowers us to run to God when we’re in peril, and he will be there for us. And that’s because he’s “a very present help in trouble” (v. 1). So, even if disaster takes shape around us—we can be still, we can understand we cannot control the situation, and we can feel the strength and the help of our God who is our refuge in times of distress—always.
As you pray, ask God to help you sink into safety and rest in him.
About the Author
Ariana D. Den Bleyker is a Pittsburgh native currently residing in New York’s Hudson Valley. She is the author of two devotional poetry collections,To Be Held by the LightandWaking in the Light. She is an ordained deacon in the Reformed Church of America.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rev. First Last
David Bast is a writer and pastor who served for 23 years as the President and Broadcast Minister for Words of Hope. In his more than 40 years of devotional writing and preaching, he has been encouraging believers around the world to be shaped by God and his Word.
Prior to his ministry and work at Words of Hope, Dave served as a pastor for 18 years in congregations in the Reformed Church in America. A graduate of Hope College and Western Theological Seminary, he is the author of nine devotional books and Bible studies, including Why Doesn’t God Act More Like God, Christ in the Psalms, and A Gospel for the World.
Dave and his wife, Betty Jo, have four children and eight grandchildren. Dave enjoys reading, growing tomatoes, and avidly follows the Detroit Tigers.
Biblical not Textual
Read: Luke 24:13-35 Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (v. 27) A pastor in a rural village in India took the Word of God very seriously and
Guilt to Gratitude
Read: Romans 8:27-39 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (v. 32) How do you respond to God’s gift of
All Is Well
Read: John 14:18-31 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (v. 27) Do you ever
Love Your Enemy
Read: Matthew 5:38-48 Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (vv. 44-45) In May 2023, violence broke out in the state of Manipur, India. Over the next year, more than 200 Christians were killed, more than 1,000
Under Construction
Read: Philippians 3:12-21 One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (vv. 13-14) One Sunday
A Miracle
Read: Acts 12:1-19 Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. (v. 5) In 1792, cobbler William Carey dared to leave his shoe repair shop in England and move to India.