A WORD FOR TODAY, November 10, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
We pray you have been blessed by this daily devotion. If you received it from a friend, you can see other devotions and studies by visiting our website at www.awordfortoday.org.
Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, November 10, 2025
“Don’t fret because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither like the green herb. Trust in Yahweh, and do good. Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture. Also delight yourself in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to Yahweh. Trust also in him, and he will do this: he will make your righteousness shine out like light, and your justice as the noon day sun. Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him. Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots happen. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Don’t fret; it leads only to evildoing.” Psalm 37:1-8, WEB
November 10th is a day I always remember because of the people who were born on this day. It is the day in 1453 when Martin Luther came into this world. My father was born four hundred and forty-four years later. My relationship with Martin Luther is not personal, but it is about the direction of my faith and understanding of God. My father, on the other hand, had a direct impact on my life. Martin Luther never knew me, but my father loved and provided for me and our family. His heritage is my heritage. At least a few of his genes have affected every aspect of me: my health, personality, and appearance. Though their influence on my life has been very different, I wish I could bake them a cake to celebrate the day of their birth.
It is necessary to go through a series of steps to bake a cake. First, you must gather your ingredients. It may be necessary to preheat the oven and prepare the pan with grease and flour. You need to take each ingredient and carefully mix them together so that the batter is properly prepared. After the batter is poured into the pan, the pan is put in the oven. At this point, there is nothing left to do but wait. Checking the cake every two minutes does more harm than good, since opening the oven door causes the air inside to cool. Watching the clock, pacing the kitchen, or worrying about the cake does not help the cake to bake. You must be patient and wait until the appointed time.
There’s a story you have probably heard about an old farmer who attended a potluck dinner at his church. Since he was an elder in the church, the pastor asked if he would say grace for the meal. The old farmer stood up, everyone bowed their heads and the he began, “Lord, I hate buttermilk.” The preacher opened one eye and wondered to himself where this was going. Then the farmer loudly proclaimed, “Lord, I hate lard!” Now the preacher was overly worried. However, without missing a beat, the farmer prayed on, “And Lord, you know I don’t care much for raw white flour.” Just as the preacher was ready to stand and stop everything, the farmer continued. “But Lord, when you mix ‘em all together and bake ‘em up, I do love fresh biscuits. So lord, when things come up we don’t like, when life gets hard, when we just don’t understand what you are sayin’ to us, we just need to relax and wait till You are done mixin’, and probably it will be something even better that biscuits. Amen.”
The ingredients of a cake are slightly different than a biscuit, but the concept is the same. We don’t like the ingredients alone but put together they are delicious. Neither Luther nor my father had easy lives. There were struggles, some dangerous, others heartbreaking. They did the best they could, and our world would not have been the same without them. Of course, Martin Luther’s impact was much greater for many, but I was blessed in so many more ways being the daughter of my dad. God has this way of speaking to our needs, a way that is beyond our comprehension. I needed both these men in my life and I am thankful that I can remember them both on this day, even if their influence was so different. They were ingredients to the biscuits that God is making in my life.
We don’t see the outcome. We want to know what is next. We want to eat the biscuits! But God sometimes calls us for patience. He’s making biscuits and we just don’t smell them baking just yet. Note that in these eight verses of Psalm 37, the psalmist writes three times, “Do not fret!” Fretting is worry, and worry doesn’t help matters at all. Worry keeps us from trusting God, and discipleship means trusting God above all else. We have to live in this world, and we have to deal with the struggles and joys of this world, but we have to do it from the point of view that God knows what is coming.
So, what are we to do while the biscuits are baking? God answers that question in these verses. The psalmist exhorts us to trust in the Lord, do good, dwell in the land, cherish faithfulness, delight in the Lord, commit to walking His way, rest in the Lord, and wait patiently. Cherish faithfulness seems to be translated differently in every version of the bible, but it seems to mean letting the Word of God become part of your whole being. As Christians, righteous before God because of the saving grace of Jesus Christ, we are to live as disciples no matter what. Discipleship in this world, in good times and bad through suffering and joy, means living according to God’s Word, glorifying Him, and doing what is right for our neighbors. The more we live as God is calling us to live, the more we will see how He has been making biscuits all along with the people and circumstances of our lives. We can trust that one day we’ll be feasting on them in heaven for eternity, and not just biscuits, but also cake!
A WORD FOR TODAY is posted five days a week – Monday through Friday. The devotional on Wednesday takes a look at the scripture from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday. A WORD FOR TODAY is posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Word-for-Today-Devotional/339428839418276. Like the page to receive the devotion through Facebook. For information and to access our archives, visit http://www.awordfortoday.org.