To Encourage You

Isaiah 26:3 “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

One of the great benefits of the Bible is that it exposes what’s going on inside of us.  We have mirrors which enable us to look at our outsides, and while the look on our face may hint at what’s going on behind the mask, you can’t always judge a book by its cover.  People can see our outward appearance as well. They might say to us “You’re looking good,” but they can’t see our hearts, as God told the prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:7.  By contrast, the Lord does look at our hearts, and often He will reveal to us what’s in our hearts as we peer into His holy Word.  James says as much with these words: “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like” (James 1:23-24). 

One such place this can be seen is in the verse above which talks about the condition of our inner thoughts.  It tells us that there is a condition of “perfect peace” that is available to us.  It’s a mind at rest as opposed to a mind in turmoil. It’s a condition where what’s happening on the outside may or may not reflect what’s happening on the inside. It’s easy to feel at peace when we’re lying in the sun blissfully gazing at the ocean somewhere. It’s not so easy, however, when there’s a storm raging around us. 

So, what’s the key to that kind of peace? How is it acquired? Well, as Isaiah tells us, it is something that God does in us. It’s His work in our life. He is the one Who has the power to keep us at peace.  But it’s not an automatic thing. It’s not something that is the natural result of becoming a Christian.  Although some would have us believe that as soon as one becomes a Christian all our problems are over, the fact of the matter is that our problems might actually increase because we become a Christian. If we could talk to someone suffering in a North Korean prison right now simply because they have confessed faith in Christ, that would be very clear.

So how do we remain in an attitude of perfect peace?  How do we experience it? What’s the key? Well, again as Isaiah tells us, it’s a work of God in our life, but it’s a work specifically experienced by those “whose mind is stayed” on Him.  What does the word “stayed” mean in this context? Well, the Hebrew word from which the English word “stayed” is translated means “to lean upon or take hold of.”  Interestingly the word is frequently used throughout the Old Testament in its description of the various sacrifices that were part and parcel of the Jewish religion.  For example, in the description of the burnt offering in the book of Leviticus it says, “If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him” (Leviticus 1:3-4).  That phrase “put his hand upon” is translated from the same word translated “stayed” in Isaiah 26.  It was in this act that the sins of the congregation were transferred to an animal “without blemish.” This Old Testament sacrifice was a shadow of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, as He poured out His life for us on the cross. 

Often, inner turmoil comes to us because our focus is misplaced. We are dwelling upon our troubles, our failures, our weaknesses, our inadequacies in the face of the circumstances in which we find ourselves.  Anxiety and depression can weigh us down as we focus on the sins of our past and the regret and guilt we may feel because of them. In all of this our Lord would have us know that we can lean on Him. Our minds can be stayed on Him. While we are sinful and we are weak, and likewise, we are inadequate in and of ourselves to keep ourselves in perfect peace, it is as we lean upon our perfect Lord and Master Whose death paid the price for our sins, that we can find rest. 

As Paul tells us in the letter to the church at Rome, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).  It’s His power, His provision, His work on our behalf that gives us peace, not our own power, provision, or work that can fall so far short.  It is as we lean on what He has done for us and as we trust in the awesome promises He has given us that we find peace.  And the truth be told, if we are not at peace, it’s because we are simply failing to lean on Him. It means our mind is not stayed on Him, but on something else.  That’s what the mirror of God’s Word is showing us. 

May God give us the grace to lean on Him at all times, for it is in this wonderful dependence that He keeps us in His own perfect peace. As Jesus said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).