Return, O my soul, to your rest;
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.Psalm 116:7
The One Step Daily Devotional is intended to provide just one step each day for your journey with God. Every journey requires water breaks. Here is a water break for you.
2024 was quite the year. 2025 is shaping up to be one for the record books as well. Rest for our mind, will, and emotions can feel out of reach. When we fear the coming of a next difficulty, or if we can see the next difficulty coming, or if we are in a new difficulty already, rest may feel like something reserved for others. Furthermore, even when the difficulty is over, our souls may remain in overdrive, attempting to protect us from a danger long-gone.
No matter if difficulty lies before us, behind us, or around us, just as the psalmist did, we need to tell our souls, “hey, it’s okay. You can relax now.” How can one rest?
Whether difficulty lies behind us, before us, or around us today, the source of our rest does not change: God.
God gives us rest during difficulty:
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemiesPsalm 23:5a
Paul instructs,
Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:5-7
Surely this verse invites us to avoid anxiousness about whatever difficulty we think may come in the future. Also, the psalmist showed us that we have a part to play in allowing our soul to rest after difficulty.
How can we do this? God is with us, and as the psalmist tells us, the Lord has dealt bountifully with us.
Today, take a step. Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to remember how bountiful he has been toward you. Perhaps today God wants you to release your anxiety about the difficulties to come. Maybe today God wants you to tell your soul to rest, no matter the circumstances. Perhaps God wants you to remember that He is with you and ready to give you rest.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a water break… we all get thirsty.
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*Tucker, W. D., Jr. (2018). Psalms 107–150. In T. Muck (Ed.), Psalms (Vol. 2, p. 660). Zondervan.
Goldingay, J. (2006). Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 90–150 (T. Longman III, Ed.; Vol. 3, pp. 341–342). Baker Academic.