Today's Devotional is written by Pastor Roy Summers
Three varieties of Peace
In the Scriptures we find at least three different kinds of peace. There is, first and foremost, peace with God. This is a peace that was established through the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross which has put our relationship with God on a right footing.
Then there is peace with our fellow mankind, making sure that we live at peace with everyone around us. "Blessed are the peacemakers" pronounces Jesus.
And then there is the peace mentioned in our memory verse for the day, peace in our hearts, peace in our minds, peace in the midst of sorrows or difficulties.
In our verse God promises this third kind of peace to his people:
"You will keep in perfect peace, him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you." (Isaiah 26:3)
God promises to his people in the midst of whatever unnerving trials or circumstances they may find themselves in, his perfect peace.
The Condition for peace
We should notice that a condition is set for this peace of mind, "whose mind is stayed on you." Another translation puts it, "whose thoughts are fixed on you."
Perfect peace is promised to those who keep their minds and focus on the Lord. That is the key. When Peter took his eyes off the Lord and looked at the raging storm he faltered, and when Elijah filled his mind with Jezebel's threats, he stumbled.
So we too will lack peace should we look at the storm around us rather than the King of the Universe, whose love for us never fails.
Why should looking to the Lord bring us peace? "Because," says our verse, that person "trusts in you." To trust in the Lord is to believe that he has the whole world in his hands. To trust in the Lord is to believe that he is the sovereign ruler over all the events we are passing through. To trust in the Lord is to believe that his love for us is steadfast and sure - even today.
We can't expect peace if we turn our hearts away from the Lord.
Perfect Peace
We should notice in closing the kind of peace that is promised. Isaiah was led by the Holy Spirit to place the adjective "perfect" in there. God promises perfect peace.
Perfect peace may sound incredible and even impossible. But Paul echoed this promise hundreds of years later when he too wrote about "the peace that passes all understanding." (Philippians 4:7) Perfect peace does not mean no ripples on the pond, it means below the surface, a peaceful heart.
Summing it All Up
What keeps us from enjoying God's peace? Sometimes it is the refusal to bow to God's purposes for our lives: he is leading us one way, but like the stubborn mule we are leaning another. Sometimes it is anger in our hearts at the path he has led us down. Sometimes it's simply forgetting that he loves us in spite of adverse circumstances.
Today, even now, let us lay those contrary ways aside and keeping our minds on the Lord, let us trust in him.
A SONG FOR THE DAY
The chorus of our song today is based on Isaiah 26:3. Frances Havergal likens the peace of God to a stream that gets bigger and bigger as it reaches the sea.
Like a river glorious is God’s perfect peace
Over all victorious in its bright increase
Perfect, yet it floweth fuller every day
Perfect, yet it groweth deeper all the way
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding as He promised
Perfect peace and rest
Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand
Never foe can follow, never traitor stand
Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care
Not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there
Every joy or trial falleth from above
Traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love
We may trust Him fully all for us to do
They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true
Frances Havergal
Sing along HERE.
A PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Our ever-loving Father,
We are so fickle and weak! We fret and worry about things large and small, temporary and permanent. We thank you that you sit above the circle of the earth, enthroned in glory, serene and glorious.
Teach us, every day, to turn our minds to you and to trust in you. Help us to trust in your power, your love, and your good purposes.
We pray these things in Jesus' Name,
Amen
Photo by Aleksandr Ledogorov on Unsplash
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