“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” ~ Isaiah 26:3
When I graduated from high school, my mother wrote that scripture in a greeting card for me. At the time, I interpreted it as, “Try to think about the Lord all the time and you won’t worry about anything.” As you can imagine, I didn’t always keep my mind on Him, and I certainly didn’t experience peace all the time. There were even times when I did have my mind on Him and still didn’t have peace. Those last five words of the verse are so crucial – “Because he trusts in You.”
LEANING
Being the “word nerd” that I am, I looked up the meaning of the word “stayed.” That word in the Hebrew is samak, meaning “to lean or lay upon, rest upon, lean against (Brown Driver Briggs).”
Could we say then that we experience perfect peace when we lean on Him?
As I meditated on this, a picture flashed before me of the Apostle John leaning on Jesus’s breast at the Last Supper (John 13:25). In his gospel, John refers to himself as the disciple “whom Jesus loved.” What kind of peace could we have, being so secure in our knowledge of His love for us, that in the midst of a crisis we could lean into Him in complete trust?
“DO YOU TRUST ME?”
It had been a pretty good morning. I had awakened early and had a great time with Jesus and His word. While at work later that morning, I received a phone call from the head nurse at the hospital.
“Mr. Sherman, I’m sorry, but we had to intubate your wife. She couldn’t breathe and she coded.”
As I left my job and started the long drive to the Medical Center in Houston, a wave of fear and anxiety crashed in. It was as if I had sailed away from a peaceful island right into a hurricane. It seemed like all of the peace I had felt that morning had vanished.
Then I heard that still small voice that I knew was the Holy Spirit.
“Do you trust Me?”
He didn’t have to say anything else. My mind suddenly went into remembrance mode. I thought of other crises we had been through and how God had been with us in every one of them. I was thankful for those times.
The peace of God came over me. I walked into the hospital in what I can only describe as a “peace bubble.”
THE GUARD
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” ~ Philippians 4:6-7
Every time I walk into my bank I see a man to my left wearing a uniform, with a pistol at his side. He is the guard. He’s there because there is something very valuable inside. I have something very valuable inside of me called my heart.
The Greek word for heart used in this passage is “kardia” and we recognize that as meaning anything to do with the physical heart.
But it is used here for our soul, the seat of our thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, and endeavours (Thayer).
Every one of these expressions of my soul needs to be covered with His peace, and that peace is fueled by trust.
It is easy to forget all God has done for us when we’re being bombarded with bad news. That’s why David said this:
“Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” ~ Psalms 103:1-5
We can speak to our soul and remind it that we have all of these benefits for which to be thankful.
Do it as many times a day as needed.
Soul, remember how good the Lord is and be at peace!
Kevin