Peace of Mind

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Scripture: Isaiah 26:3-4 (ESV)

You keep him in perfect peace

whose mind is stayed on you,

because he trusts in you.

4     Trust in the Lord forever,

for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

 

            In today’s scripture Isaiah is showing what is necessary to live and have peace of mind. These words are full of comfort and the tender compassion of our God. God knows that in this world our minds will be distracted and drawn away from full contemplation on God. The enemy of our souls has done a masterful job organizing modern life to be full of shiny objects that capture our attention. Our screens, particularly our phones, often draw us in and set our minds on the latest news or gossip.

 

            Living a life centered on Christ is becoming more and more difficult each day. The news of the day seems so urgent. We have shooting at a school, the first ever indictment of a former President of the United States, and the hundreds of stories of local interest that draw us in. Social media becomes our news source because we can no longer trust the major news outlets to be fair and balanced in their reporting.

 

            Yet God’s promise in this scripture is that in him our peace can be restored, The word of God provides sure guidance for us in these troubled times. The words we have translated as perfect peace in our English Bibles are literally in the Hebrew, peace, peace. Such a repetition of words are meant to alert the reader that peace referred to here is not an ordinary kind of peace. Rather these words suggest to us a deep and abiding peace that lasts.

           

            Verse 4 declares that we can trust the Lord. The Lord is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He will not change indeed he cannot change as he is perfect in his being. Nothing can be added to or taken away from who God is. Therefore, we can have boldness to bring our needs and wants to him without fear that he will reject us. Simple faith in God is all that is necessary for our salvation. Trusting in him more will give us a sense of peace of mind that passes all understanding. Let us pray that God will keep us fully devoted to him.

 

Prayer:

           

            Lord, we confess that we have been too easily distracted by the things of this world. The world, flesh, and the devil constantly compete for our attention. Let us ask the Lord to give us the power of focus and attention that are required for us to know your peace in all its fullness in our lives. Teach us to reject the worldly ways of sin and evil no matter how they are dressed up to look appealing or attractive to us. Keep us, we pray, in perfect peace, so that we may live as beacons of hope in our increasingly hopeless world. Amen.

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