Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: PSALMS 46:1-11; 121:1-2; 146:3-7

Should I look to the mountains, hills?
Where should I look, to the valleys?
To the secret places?
For I need help.

Look to the powerful?
They can’t control their next breath.
To the mighty?
Yet, the mighty also grow weary,
They also cry, pain comes their way.
They come to their end,
Death swallows them.

But He is above mountains,
He lived in eternity,
Long before mountains,
Long before valleys and hills;
He created them.
He holds the breath of the mighty,
Yes, everyone’s.
I will look to Him,
My Helper, Creator.
I run to Him, my Shelter. • Charity M. Kiregyera

• Today’s poem is written in the style of a psalm, and it’s especially inspired by Psalms 46 and 112. When you have questions or need help, where do you turn? It can be tempting to put our trust in successful-looking people, whether we know them personally or not. And God certainly does sometimes provide valuable wisdom and help through these people. But God wants us to put our ultimate trust in Him because He loves us more than anyone else possibly could. He even suffered the cross for us in Jesus! He also has more wisdom and power than anybody else, so He is far more capable of doing something to help us (Colossians 1:15). What questions do you have for Jesus today? What help do you need? Consider spending some time with Him in prayer, laying down all these things at His feet.

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. Psalm 46:1 (NLT)

READ: EXODUS 33:14; PSALMS 23:1-6; 62:1-2; MATTHEW 11:28-30

Life can feel exhausting. Between responsibilities, worries, and the fast pace of everyday life, many of us carry heavy burdens. Jesus’s invitation in Matthew 11 is simple yet profound: “Come to me…and I will give you rest.”

This rest is more than physical—it’s emotional, and even spiritual. It’s the peace that comes from knowing we don’t have to carry everything on our own. Jesus offers us His yoke, which is easy, and His burden, which is light. When we walk with Him, He shoulders the load.

Psalm 62 reminds us that our souls find rest in God alone. True rest doesn’t come from vacations, success, or distractions—it comes from trusting Him. Exodus 33:14 adds God’s promise: “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” His presence is the source of renewal. And, because He loves us so much, He has welcomed us into His presence through the cross.

I remember a season when I felt completely drained. No amount of sleep or time off seemed to help. But when I turned to God in prayer, I experienced a deep peace that refreshed me in ways nothing else could. His rest reached my soul.

Rest in God doesn’t mean we avoid responsibilities—it means we face them with His strength and peace. When we pause to be with Him, we discover that He restores us, renews us, and carries us through. • Martha Karas

• What burdens have you been carrying? What has been making you feel weary? Consider taking some time to come to Jesus in prayer, honestly telling Him about whatever is weighing on you and asking Him to help you notice His invitations to rest in Him and follow His gentle leadership.

• Things like vacations, hobbies, naps, good food, and spending time with friends and family are wonderful gifts from God, and He wants to refresh us through them. But only He can give us full rest, the kind that reaches our very souls. How could you set aside time to pause and rest in God’s presence this week? Consider choosing a time of day and physical location, then see if it works well for you. If not, keep experimenting!

[Jesus said,] “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 147:1-5; ISAIAH 12

Julia couldn’t believe I was afraid of dogs. And I couldn’t believe Julia was afraid of chickens. When my family visited her family, we played with her neighborhood friends. One of them, Shannon, had a large, loud dog. Not only did Shannon love her pet, but Julia loved this dog too. I, however, found the dog terrifying. Once when it ran outside to join us, I faked a bathroom emergency until it went back to Shannon’s house.

Other times, Julia’s family traveled to visit us in the country. We raised chickens and let them roam free during the daytime. When we played outside, the curious chickens often followed us—and their presence scared Julia. She was afraid these clucking critters would chase us, peck us, or worse. Julia thought my fear was silly, and I thought the same about hers.

We all have concerns about different things. For one person, it might be stress about getting into college. For another, it could be anxiety about their parents’ marriage or bullies who torment them. And most of our deepest fears loom larger than annoying dogs and chickens.

But, no matter what worries us, God’s love and power are bigger than our fears. Because Jesus laid down His life for us, we can know that nothing can ever separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). His death and resurrection have secured forgiveness for our sins and made the way for us to live with God forever, so we don’t even need to be afraid of death!

Once we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we can rest assured that we are God’s dearly loved children—and we don’t exist in this world without protection. Psalm 18:2 refers to God as our rock, our shield, and our fortress. Psalm 71:3 calls God our “rock of refuge.” And Isaiah 12:2 proclaims, “The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense.”

When Jesus returns and makes all things new, there will be nothing left to fear. And until that day, as we experience real fears—and scary circumstances that give us genuine reasons to be afraid—we can rest in our strong and mighty God. • Allison Wilson Lee

• Can you think of any fears in your life you try to minimize or pretend you don’t struggle with? You don’t have to pretend to God. He already knows you better than you know yourself, and He sees all your struggles with compassionate love. He can even empathize with you, because Jesus knows firsthand what it feels like to be human in this world that’s been broken by sin (Mark 14:33-34). Consider taking a moment to talk to Jesus about whatever has been worrying or frightening to you lately, and rest in the comfort of His strong protection.

When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. Psalm 94:19 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 102:24-27; JOHN 10:10-18, 27-30; REVELATION 1:4-7

In the United States, a presidential election comes every four years. Whether we love and support the president who is in office or we’re ready to see their term come to an end, we have to deal with the uncertainty that comes with another election on a regular basis. It seems like a president barely has time to settle in for their first term before they have to start campaigning for their second. While they have an important job, it’s not one that lasts.

Recently, I was reading about how God is eternal, and it made me realize how different He is from what we’re used to. No matter what country we live in, our leaders don’t stay in control forever; they’re constantly changing. Even if a nation has no laws in place requiring power to regularly pass from an old leader to a new one, people in positions of authority still leave—they age, they pass away, they choose to retire, or they do things that make them lose the respect of the public. They don’t last.

Though we live in a changing world, we serve a God who is eternal. He has always been in control, and He always will be in control. And that’s good news, because He is a good leader. He loves us so much that, through Jesus, He died and rose again to make the way for us to be with Him forever. No other leader has ever done that for their people. Jesus is the good shepherd and the true king. And we don’t have to worry about His time as leader ending, so we don’t have to worry about adjusting to following someone new. We can rest, knowing that He who was God when we were born will still be God when we pass away.

How great it is to have a permanent, perfect leader we can always trust to be there and be the same. Day after day, God is there for us. He loves us, and He never changes. Knowing that brings me peace. • Emily Acker

• Can you think of a time leadership changes made you feel anxious or unsteady? We all feel like that sometimes. Thankfully, as Christians, we can look to Jesus and remember that we get to submit to His perfect leadership first and foremost. He cares for us, and He wants us to bring all our worries and needs to Him. Consider spending some time in prayer, bringing any fears or frustrations about earthly leaders to Jesus and thanking Him for His perfect, loving, steady leadership.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8 (NIV)

READ: JOHN 1:1-18; ROMANS 5:6-11; PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11

How well do you think you would be able to communicate with other people if you weren’t allowed to talk, write, or use sign language for a day? It would probably be pretty difficult. Words are central to human communication.

In John 1:14, Jesus is introduced as, “the Word.” This title points to a profound truth: Jesus is the ultimate means by which God has chosen to communicate with us.

Jesus took on flesh, meaning He became a human like you and me. Notice how John 1:14 describes Jesus being born and living on earth: He “made his dwelling among us.” The Greek verb here is eskēnōsen, and it literally means “to pitch a tent.” This points back to the Old Testament, when God told His people to make a Tabernacle—a large, ornate tent—for His presence to dwell among His people.

So, why did the Word take on flesh and live among us? John tells us in verse 18. Jesus took on flesh and “pitched his tent” among us so we could know God. God loves us so much that He came in Jesus to show us who He is, ultimately dying on the cross and rising from the grave so we could live with Him forever.

By placing our faith in Jesus, trusting Him to forgive our sins and make us new, we can have a relationship with the God of the universe. Though we were once His enemies, we can now become His children and have a growing and thriving relationship with Him—all because Jesus is God made known. • Jonathon Fuller

• Why is it important to know that Jesus is “the Word [who] became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14)? How does this reveal who He is and what He came to do?

• What questions do you have about the incarnation (God the Son becoming human)? Who are trusted Christians in your life who could help you dig into Scripture and find out more?

• For more about what it means to put your trust in Jesus, see our "Know Jesus" page.

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. John 1:18 (NIV)