December 15, 2004
Perfect Peace Is Possible
Read: Isaiah 26:1-9
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. —Isaiah 26:3
Bible In One Year: Amos 1-3; Revelation 6
Few things (if anything at all) in this fallen world can be called perfect. But God promises to keep us in "perfect peace" if we keep our minds focused on Him and continue trusting Him (Isaiah 26:3).
So why do we find it so difficult to trust Him? Often, it's because we're afraid that things won't go as we want them to unless we control them ourselves. The less we are in control, the more anxious and worried we become.
Author Hannah Whitall Smith wrote, "It is not hard, you find, to trust the management of the universe, and of all the outward creation, to the Lord. Can your case then be so much more complex and difficult than these, that you need to be anxious or troubled about His management of you?"
Yet we often think our situation is too difficult for God. If we can't solve things ourselves, we doubt that He can. We have our Christian beliefs, yes—but that isn't the same as believing God. Believing God is a personal response that grows out of our Christian faith and is expressed by our increasing trust in Him and His promises.
As our mind remains on Him, He keeps us in perfect peace. This has been the experience of countless believers, and you can experience it too. —Joanie Yoder
What wonders He can do,
Then we can trust His promises
For they are always true. —D. De Haan
God can be trusted in the dark as well as in the light.