The Daily Devotional is a spiritually deep well, to which thousands of readers are drawn each day. The overall voice of the Daily Devotional is tended by the Stillspeaking Writers’ Group and supported by the staff of The Pilgrim Press.
REST ASSURED
Stillspeaking Devotional by Kaji Dousa
[Jesus said to them,] “The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”
John 5:25b (NRSV)
What you hear, you hold.
Every day your memory is building. Most of what happens flows through like water in a sieve. But some things stick.
Those things shape recognition. They shape whether you hear God’s voice when it calls you.
I remember memory-building with an acronym: NAME. Novelty. Affect. Meaning. Echo. Novelty is surprise. Affect is emotion. Meaning is the values you attach. Echo is repetition. These anchors lodge experiences into memory. And this matters, because God uses these same anchors to write Godself into your life.
The risk is real. Doomscrolling. Passive intake before sleep. Endless noise. Whatever lodges in your memory will echo. It can clutter your spirit, stir your anxiety, and crowd out the things of God. But there is hope.
Right before rest, claim your threshold. Silence the outside noise. Let the quiet belong to God. If silence is too much, choose your noise intentionally. A meditation. A prayer. A question: Where did God surprise me today? What do I want to carry with me into my rest? Even a pause before sleep can reassign your memory’s work.
This small practice can change everything. Because the promise is this: the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. Even when numb. Even when distorted. Even when unalive. If you can recognize it, you will rise.
Guard what you hear. Guard what you hold. Guard your NAME. Because Jesus is calling it. And he is saying: Rise!
Prayer: God, anchor my memory in you. Let what lodges in me be your voice. Amen.