Be Still: 30 Devotions for the Hopeful HeartSample

In the Hands of Hope

This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence. I JOHN 3:19 NIV

We try so hard to make things happen on our own, don’t we? In our timing. The way we like it. How we’ve planned it in our mind. In our mixing-up of roles, we often forget His power. We think we have to “wake Him up” to our reality when the waves feel too big and inform Him of our dreams when the waters seem stagnant.

But He is God.

He knows our desires and where we would like to go.

He knows our shortcomings and what might prevent us from getting there.

He knows our potential and the possibilities that lie within us.

He also knows the timing of how it all comes together—how things will shift into place, how certain doors will close, and unexpected ones will open, how stubborn we can get when we believe in something, and how fearful we allow our hearts to get when vulnerability calls our name.

Yet even though He knows all, He gives us grace when we think we do. It’s like a child pretending to drive a car while sitting in a parent’s lap, gripping the steering wheel, wide-eyed and ready, believing they’re in control—when in reality, their loving parent has control of the wheel the entire time. The child’s feet dangle in midair as the parent presses the gas and the brake. They chuckle that their child believes the verbal command “Go faster” actually makes the car travel at higher speeds.

Isn’t this us, white-knuckling the wheel, believing we are in control, while our Father smiles and keeps us on the course?

We do not have to worry that our God is One who doesn’t know what we want or need. Or that He’s boring, stingy, or stale and won’t provide it. Or even that His timeline is a little behind what our mind tells us is the socially acceptable timeline. Our desires are not far from His mind.

He is mighty. Trust what He knows and follow where He goes. Remember His hands—they have us. And haven’t we learned? His hands do not fail.

Dear Jesus, thank You for being patient in our stubbornness and forgetfulness. Remind our hearts that Your will is perfect and true. You know us intricately, and You lead us perfectly. We place today in Your hands.

In Jesus’s name, amen.