“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.”
Isaiah 26:3-4 NLT
Grace Perspective:
Perfect peace means peace peace. In Hebrew, the word used for peace is Shalom and means “completeness, soundness, welfare, peace.“ [i] Isaiah wants us to understand this powerful truth. True peace, perfect peace, comes when we choose to trust the Lord. Isaiah tells us we trust God when we fix our thoughts on Him. Our minds go to those things that are important to us. Getting to know God, spending time reading the Bible, studying it, finding others who share a passion for the Lord will help us get to know Him and help us to know that He is trustworthy.
Ultimately our peace comes from trusting Christ Jesus as our Savior. He did the work to make us complete or at peace with God. Trusting Christ for salvation will bring eternal peace our hearts long for; fixing our thoughts on this truth will help guard our hearts with His gracious peace.
A Touch of Grace:
What does peace mean to you?
What brings you peace?
Grace Application:
Peace, do you long for a peaceful life? I do! Yet, often it seems as though our circumstances are anything but peaceful. You know what I mean. Health issues, financial worries, and relational problems all work against us having the peace Isaiah refers to in this passage.
Is this kind of peace even possible? Yes! And it starts with trust. Specifically trusting the Lord. We trust what we know, in this case, Who, we know. Trusting God takes effort because we don’t trust people we don’t know. So, we need to know Him and allow our thoughts to be filled with what is true.
We make choices each day in what consumes our thoughts; we focus on what is important to us. Our minds are a battlefield where peace is gained or lost by what we think. If we are focus on what the world says is important (image, looks, wealth, self) or what others think about us, we surrender true peace.
When we choose to keep our thoughts on “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”(Philippians 4:7) it keeps our thoughts focused on the Lord. As we lean into the truth of who God is, our trust in Him deepens as we know Him as our eternal Rock who gives gracious peace to those who trust Him.
Prayer:
Gracious Father, Thank you for peace, eternal peace that comes from knowing Jesus Christ as our Savior. Forgive me for the times I allow chaos to rule my mind and heart instead of trusting You. I confess I still struggle to trust you with (___________). Help me, Lord, to surrender this to you so that Your peace will be complete in my heart and mind. In the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, Amen.
[i] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H7965&t=ESV
**Today, as you read this, I pray each of you will know for sure you are in Christ Jesus. If you have any doubts, please call out to God, so all doubt may be erased. Today is a good day to be assured of salvation in Christ Jesus. If you have any questions, please contact me at graceisdawning@gmail.com**