Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence

Sarah Young, a missionary and counselor, presents 365 daily devotional entries, plus an additional February 29 entry, written from the first-person perspective of Jesus Christ speaking directly to the reader. Each entry addresses the reader as "you" and uses "I," "Me," and "My" to refer to Christ, creating an intimate, conversational tone. The devotions are organized by calendar month, from January through December, and each concludes with Scripture references drawn from multiple Bible translations. Young frames the book with an autobiographical introduction explaining how she developed this devotional format and instructs readers to engage the entries slowly, in a quiet place, with an open Bible.

In the introduction, Young recounts her spiritual journey. The daughter of a college professor, she majored in philosophy at Wellesley College and nearly completed a master's degree in child development at Tufts University. Her brother introduced her to Francis Schaeffer's Escape from Reason, which answered questions she had long dismissed as unanswerable and drew her to L'Abri, an international Christian community in a small Alpine village in France. There, a counselor confronted her with two questions: whether she was a Christian and what she could not forgive herself for. These questions forced Young to confront her sinfulness and her need for Jesus as Savior.

Young describes her first vivid experience of God's Presence during a solitary nighttime walk in the snowy Alps, where she suddenly became aware of what she calls a "lovely Presence" and whispered "Sweet Jesus." A second encounter occurred the following year in Atlanta, where, while grieving the end of a relationship, she read Catherine Marshall's Beyond Ourselves and felt an overwhelming Presence of peace and love. Over the next sixteen years, Young attended Covenant Theological Seminary, married Steve, a third-generation missionary to Japan, served two four-year missionary terms, raised two children, and earned a counseling degree at Georgia State University. Yet during those years she never vividly experienced Jesus' Presence again. A new spiritual quest began when she read Andrew Murray's The Secret of the Abiding Presence, which argued that God's Presence is meant to be a continual experience for Christians. This coincided with a period of uncertainty: waiting for Australian visas, leaving her counseling job, and undergoing four surgeries, including two for melanoma.

After settling in Australia, where she and Steve planted the first Japanese church in Melbourne and she counseled survivors of abuse, Young experienced intense spiritual warfare. One morning during prayer, she was enveloped in brilliant light and peace. Days later, a counseling client began remembering satanic ritual abuse, and Young understood the experience of God's Presence as preparation for that work. The pivotal shift in her devotional practice came when she began "listening" with pen in hand, writing down whatever she sensed in her mind while focusing on Jesus and Scripture. She emphasizes she was not hearing an audible voice but seeking God's face. Her journaling changed from monologue to dialogue, and themes of peace became increasingly prominent. Young clarifies that the Bible is the only infallible Word of God and that she endeavors to keep her devotional writings consistent with Scripture.

The devotions, though arranged as a calendar, do not follow a chronological narrative. Instead, they develop interconnected spiritual themes that recur across all twelve months, with each entry functioning as a self-contained meditation. The most prominent theme is trust. The devotions present trust in Jesus as the foundational response to every circumstance, a choice the reader must make continually. The January 4 entry introduces the practice of saying "I trust You, Jesus" in response to whatever happens. Trust appears through varied metaphors: as a staff to lean on during an uphill journey, as coins deposited in a treasury that compound with interest, and as golden strands woven with waiting and hoping to form a strong chain. The devotions distinguish between passive trust, cultivated in quiet communion with God, and active trust, demonstrated by affirming confidence in God when circumstances are painful. Trust is consistently contrasted with worry, which the devotions classify as a form of unbelief and rebellion.

Closely linked to trust is awareness of God's continual Presence, which the devotions assert is the most important reality of the reader's life. Stillness is presented as the primary means of experiencing this Presence, and one entry declares that nothing is as important as spending time with God, who transforms the reader by renewing the mind. God's Presence is evoked through sensory imagery: a cocoon of Light, golden rays encircling the reader, and a luminous veil hovering over all things. Busyness, noise, and worry are identified as the chief obstacles.

Peace is presented as a divine gift inseparable from God's Presence. The January 24 entry calls it "the treasure of treasures: the pearl of great price," purchased by Christ's blood and received through trust. The devotions argue that divine Peace, which remains constant regardless of circumstances, surpasses worldly peace. An April entry compares Peace to manna, the bread the Israelites gathered daily in the biblical wilderness narrative: Just as manna could not be stored, Peace must be received each day through prayer and thanksgiving.

Thankfulness functions as both a spiritual discipline and a safeguard. The devotions instruct the reader to thank God not only for blessings but also for difficulties, arguing that gratitude opens the mind to possible benefits flowing from hardship. An April entry uses the biblical story of Eve in the Garden of Eden to illustrate the dangers of ingratitude: Eve focused on the one forbidden fruit rather than being thankful for the many good things available, which darkened her mind and led to temptation. The devotions frame thankfulness as a transaction in which the reader offers thanks regardless of feelings and receives Joy regardless of circumstances.

Worry and fear receive sustained attention as the most persistent threats to the reader's spiritual well-being. The devotions diagnose worry as a form of idolatry, warning that worries, if indulged, develop into idols that parasitically infest the mind. Fear is addressed through the language of spiritual warfare: the July 19 entry describes "blazing missiles of fear" as attacks from the evil one and instructs the reader to use the "shield of faith" to extinguish them. The devotions repeatedly redirect the reader from worry about the future to trust in the present moment, warning that mentally rehearsing troubles causes the reader to experience them many times rather than only once.

The book redefines weakness as a gift rather than a deficiency, arguing that true dependence on God means coming with an open mind and heart and that the resulting journey involves multiple failures, each followed by a growth spurt. Self-sufficiency is criticized as a myth perpetuated by pride and as a subtle sin. The present moment is framed as the only site where the reader can encounter God, and the devotions warn against letting energy spill into tomorrow's worries or yesterday's regrets. Problems and adversity are reframed as opportunities: The biblical figure Joseph is cited as an illustration of divine reversal, having declared to his brothers that what they intended as evil, God intended for good.

The devotions also address identity and self-judgment, warning the reader against comparison with others and performance-based approaches to faith. God's love is affirmed as unconditional and everlasting, entirely separate from the reader's accomplishments. One entry describes the reader as wearing a royal robe of righteousness purchased by Christ's blood. Another warns against guilt as a motivational tool, declaring that guilt-inducing sermons erode the foundation of grace.

Heaven appears throughout as both a future destination and a present reality accessible through God's Presence. The devotions clarify that the biblical word "hope" denotes confident expectation rather than wishful thinking. Hope is described as a golden cord connecting the reader to heaven, lifting perspective from weary circumstances to a glorious view. The book also identifies modern forms of idolatry, including worry, routine, planning, and even beloved relationships, using the biblical story of Jacob's favoritism toward his son Joseph as a cautionary example. People-pleasing is called a form of bondage. The devotions model continual, conversational prayer and describe the Holy Spirit as guiding the reader's thoughts, controlling speech, and producing freedom.