Daily Devotions

 Job 11:18

“You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and lie down in safety.”

This verse offers a powerful assurance: true hope in God brings confidence and peace. It’s not the shallow kind of hope that is merely wishful thinking, but a deep, abiding trust grounded in the unchanging character of God. The context of the verse is Zophar’s counsel to Job—though imperfect, it still contains a profound truth. He urges Job to turn back to God, implying that genuine repentance and faith open the way to divine security and rest.

Mark Buchanan captures this beautifully in his book The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath:

“Without rest, we miss the rest of God: the rest he invites us to enter more fully so that we might know him more deeply. ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’ Some knowing is never pursued, only received. And for that, you need to be still.”

Job, in the depths of suffering, discovers that the presence of God is not always found in striving or searching, but in stillness and surrender.

A beautiful story from the life of missionary John Paton further illustrates this trust. While translating the Bible for a South Seas island tribe, Paton discovered they had no word for “faith” or “trust.” One day, a weary villager entered his hut, collapsed into a chair, and said, “It is good to rest my whole weight on this chair.” In that moment, Paton saw the perfect metaphor:

Faith is resting your whole weight on God.

It is that kind of faith—total surrender, total trust—that Job was being drawn toward. And it is that same faith to which we are invited today.

A Prayer:
Abba, Father,
Thank you for your tender mercy and unfailing love.
Forgive me for the times I run ahead of you—striving, pushing, wandering from your path.
Teach me to rest in you.
Slow my soul to stillness, that I may hear your gentle voice.
My day belongs to you.
Lead me in your rhythm—the sacred dance of grace.
Let my steps follow your peaceful way,
your narrow road of joy, light, and love,
leading to the forever of ever with you.
Thank you. I am humbled by your love.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.