Peace. I need peace. I want peace. Life happens. And life is filled with the results of sin. Sin in the world. My sin. And because of it all, things go wrong. It started as the perfect plan. But sin changed it. So it’s not the perfect plan yet – not until the Lord Jesus takes us to be with Him.
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Trust. I need to trust. I want to trust. Trust that God will give me peace if my mind is steadfast, if my mind is stayed on Him (as the Bible promises!).
“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3)
I first learned and memorized this verse in the King James Version of the Bible:
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee because He trusteth in Thee.”
My mind — stayed on God. If it is stayed on God, I have perfect peace. Sounds simple!
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Mirriam-Webster Dictionary defines steadfast as “firmly fixed in place; immovable”
That’s stayed!
I was recently described as being steadfast!
Really?
Me?
I want to be steadfast. But I will tell you the truth as I see it. (All my facades and false pretenses were discarded over a year ago!)
When fears come, it’s difficult to keep my mind stayed. It wanders. It travels to the future, a dangerous place to go, to the unknown.
My mind views the script – a loved one dead and buried – in less than a minute.
A terminal illness. A dreaded call in the middle of the night. The most morbid scenarios. That’s where my mind goes.
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Stayed.
“. . . whose mind is stayed . . . because he trusts . . .”
(I read Isaiah 26: 1-3)
He trusts in you, O God. You who make salvation (vs. 1).
Oh, I trust in you, O God. You who make salvation.
You’ve opened the gates. I may enter in. I keep the faith. (vs. 2)
The promise? The God of all grace, who called me to his eternal glory in Christ, after I have suffered a little while, (remember “Life. Things go wrong. It’s not the perfect plan yet”?) Well, God will himself restore me and make me strong, firm and steadfast! (1 Peter 5:10)
Awesome!
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So, you see, my friend, when you feel you’ve lost that peace,
and you know you want that peace,
just be steadfast – keep your mind stayed on Him.
Ask Him, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)
And He will keep you in perfect peace as your mind is stayed upon Him.
Study the Word: Isaiah 26: 1-3; 1 Peter 5:10; Psalm 51:10
Speak the Word: My mind is steadfast. My peace is perfect! Because I trust in you.