“Perfect Peace”


BIBLE READING: Isaiah 26-28

“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.”                                             - Isaiah 26:3-4

God made an amazing promise through the Prophet Isaiah: “You will keep him in perfect peace.” What a promise – “perfect peace”! God promises that we can have perfect peace, and even be kept in a place of perfect peace.  In the original Hebrew text, the term “perfect peace” is actually shalom shalom. This shows how in the Hebrew language repetition communicates intensity. It isn’t just shalom; it is shalom shalom, “perfect peace.” It is as if God wasn’t satisfied to give us one door of peace to walk through; He opened up the double doors of peace and said, “shalom shalom.” If one assurance of peace is not enough for us, He will follow it with a second and then put on top of those two the promise to keep us there.
                Some can have this perfect peace, but it is fleeting and they are never kept there. Others can be kept in peace, but it is not a perfect peace; it is the peace of the wicked, the peace of spiritual sleep and ultimate destruction. But there is a perfect peace that the Lord will keep is in.  Who are the people who enjoy this peace? Isaiah tells us: “Whose mind is stayed on You.” This is the place of perfect peace and even the source of it. When we keep our minds stayed – settled upon, established upon – the Lord Himself, then we can be kept in this perfect peace. 
                To be kept in this perfect peace, our mind must be stayed. So, what sustains your mind? What do you lay your mind upon? What upholds your mind? What does your mind stand fast upon? What is your mind established upon? What does your mind lean upon? To have this perfect peace, your mind cannot occasionally come to the Lord; it has to be stayed on Him.
                To be kept in this perfect peace, our mind must be stayed on the Lord. If our mind is stayed on ourselves, or our problems, or the problem people in our lives, or on anything else, we can’t have this perfect peace. This is the heart that says with the Apostle Paul, “that I may know Him” (Philippians 3:10). Satan loves to get our minds on anything except God and His love to us!
                To emphasize the point, Isaiah wrote: “Because He trusts in You.” This is another way of expressing the idea of keeping our minds stayed on Him. Almost always, you keep your mind stayed on whatever you are trusting. When we trust the Lord, we keep our mind stayed on Him. It all means that the battle for trust in our lives begins in our minds. If we trust the Lord, it will show in our actions, but it will begin in our mind.  These two wonderful verses end like this: “For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.” If the Lord calls us to rely on Him completely with our mind, He appeals to our mind with a rational reason why we should trust the Lord – because He is everlasting strength. It isn’t that the Lord has everlasting strength, He is everlasting strength.  That should put your mind at peace – perfect peace indeed!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               -David Guzik
               


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