There is an ancient statement which came through the mouth of a prophet sent to a wayward people. God’s chosen, Israel, had crossed a line about which God had repeatedly warned them. Like many, they cultivated false assurances why God would not resist them in their rebellion. They kept up things on the outside which they believed to be good – religious things, routine things, respectable things. They plopped all of their good works down on one side of the scale and wrongly concluded that it would outweigh the other side of the scale which held their cold-heartedness toward their God. Israel got it wrong 2,700 years ago and God sent Isaiah to them to explain the repercussions for their actions. Somewhere in the midst of Isaiah’s unpleasant message to them there was an offer to the people of a possibility of perfect peace in their impending storm. Their circumstances would become increasingly difficult but God, once again, addressed what could happen in their hearts. For God, it was always about the heart of His people. It still is. So today Isaiah teaches us about God what he once said to a stubborn and troubled Israel,
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” – Isaiah 26:3-4
Perfect peace? We do not have PhD’s in that category do we? We dabble in peace, we try to cultivate peaceful elements in life, nations sign treaties which commit to peace but…when it is our own hearts before the Lord Himself can we testify that we have perfect peace? For me, the answer is often No. This is no small thing because it fails to take advantage of a very large promise. We are told that we can be kept in a genuine state of spiritual peace to the degree that we affix our hearts/minds/souls upon God. Isaiah’s equation seems to read like this: PERFECT PEACE = Keeping God centered in our thought like + trusting Him today. Peace derives from a God-soaked mind and a Spirit-empowered will which chooses to trust Him. This is much easier to summarize than it is to actualize.
Isaiah exhorts us to trust in the Lord forever because He is an everlasting rock. You stand upon this Rock. You are securely wedged in the protective cover of this Rock. You sling this Rock at your taunting Goliaths in the lonely valley. Your treasure is found in this Rock. You take shade from fiery circumstances underneath this Rock. You run to this Rock when floods threaten to drown you. There are days when you cling to this Rock but, most often, this Rock actually clings to you, securing you in His strength. This Rock is your refreshment when weary and dry. Remember what Paul wrote?
“For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 10:4
As you live out the next twenty four hours please remember that you and I are called to trust Him today. Trust doesn’t come with a full explanation. Trust is about the character and promises of God. We are called to fix our thoughts upon Him today. We can only experience today’s peace today – tomorrow’s is not available yet. He is the ever-present God and has chosen to deal with us on a daily plan with daily grace and daily wisdom and daily provision. The six-month inner peace plan is a fable that has never been offered to you by God. Our hearts crave that six-month peace endowment and, when we go chasing it, we forfeit today’s peace plan because our minds move from looking to Him and start pursuing something from Him. Something He isn’t offering us yet. The peace we hunt for the future will only be available in the future. You have to get there to get it. Focus on Him today, trust Him today and see if you don’t have His peace when the sun sets on you.
Then get up and do it again. Amen.