ODJ: Perfect Peace
September 15, 2016
READ: Isaiah 26:1-13
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! (v.3).
My husband’s job offer was a welcome answer to prayer, allowing him to spend more time with our family. It required a big move though—the third in 7 years. His work had previously taken us to the Middle East and South Africa, and now, with the prospect of returning to England, we felt cautiously excited. In the midst of all the logistics, important decisions, piles of paperwork that had to be completed, and the packing of all our belongings into shipping boxes, we also had an overwhelming sense of God’s “perfect peace.”
Our sense of peace comes under constant attack as the cares of this world threaten to drown out the “still small voice” of our Creator (1 Kings 19:12 nkjv). Throughout Scripture, we’re urged not to be anxious or fearful, but rather to trust in God and His Word (Proverbs 3:5). In our own strength we can try to not feel anxious about the things that weigh heavy on our hearts, and we may actually feel a sense of peace for a time. But it will be fleeting, quickly fading as our circumstances change (John 14:27). God, however, promises to “keep in perfect peace all who trust in [Him], all whose thoughts are fixed on [Him]” (Isaiah 26:3).
This kind of peace only comes as we trust God and have our thoughts fixed on Him (vv.3-4). The battle for peace is waged in the mind and our thoughts are a measure of our peace. “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. ...Then you will experience God’s peace” (Philippians 4:6-7). God alone can make the path smooth: “for those who are righteous, the way is not steep and rough” (Isaiah 26:7).
As we worship God and trust that He enables us to accomplish what He desires, we can truly know His perfect peace (vv.12-13).
—Ruth O’Reilly-Smith
365-day plan: John 14:15-31
Read John 16:33 and consider the peace that Jesus alone can provide.
Are you living out God’s “perfect peace”? What will allow you to experience more of it?