Daily Devotions

Psalm 37:7:

Be still before the Holy One; wait quietly, with trust. Don’t let yourself be unsettled by those who prosper through injustice or get ahead through schemes that go unchallenged.

I’m sure we’ve all heard that tongue-in-cheek prayer: “Lord, give me patience—but hurry up!” It captures so well the tension we feel between our desire for calm trust and our impulse for instant solutions.

Mark Buchanan, in his book The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath, reminds us that true Sabbath rest is inseparable from stillness. He writes, “The root idea of Sabbath is simple as rain falling, basic as breathing. It’s that all living things—and many nonliving things too—thrive only by an ample measure of stillness.”

Stillness, in this sense, is not inactivity or apathy—it is a posture of trust. It’s the patient refusal to be consumed by envy or anxiety when others appear to get ahead by questionable means. Psalm 37:7 calls us not to fret over those who amass wealth or succeed through manipulation, but to rest in the assurance that God sees, knows, and will act in His time.

It’s easy to be stirred up when the world feels unfair. We may ask, “Why do the dishonest prosper?” But this verse reminds us: outward success does not equal divine favour. Our role is not to chase after fairness but to remain faithful, grounded in stillness and trust.

There’s a story told of a man who lost a valuable watch while working in an icehouse. He and his coworkers raked through sawdust in vain. But a young boy who’d overheard the story slipped in during the lunch break. When he emerged, he had the watch in hand.

“How did you find it?” the men asked.

“I closed the door,” the boy said, “lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I heard it ticking.”

Sometimes, we do not hear the voice of God—not because He isn’t speaking, but because we are too restless, too noisy, too impatient to listen. Stillness is not just the absence of noise; it is the intentional quiet of the heart that listens for the tick of the divine.

So be still. Wait patiently. Let go of fretting. Trust that the God who sees all is never late, and never silent.

Lord, help me to be still before you and wait patiently for you. I know that you have a plan for my life, and I trust in your timing. When I see others prosper in ways that seem unfair or wicked, help me not to fret or become angry. Instead, help me to rest in your love and trust in your wisdom. I choose to choose to commit my way to you and trust that you will bring about a righteous reward in your own time. Amen."