Perfect Peace
You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. (Isaiah 26:3 NKJV)
Anxiety
Anxiety is a common problem among my friends, and it is a problem that I experience more and more as I get older. Why should we be anxious when the Lord has told us how to have perfect peace?
We who are saved have no problem saying that we are trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ to take us to heaven. But trusting in the Lord to keep us while here on earth is another matter. If you are like me, you likely have the mentality that “the Lord helps those who help themselves.” Perhaps you are like me and you assume that if something goes wrong it is because you have failed to do something that you should have done. Maybe you didn’t change the oil in the car soon enough, maybe you didn’t check the air in the tires, maybe you didn’t pay attention to that knocking noise in the car when you should have. If our health deteriorates, maybe we didn’t go to the doctor soon enough, maybe we didn’t watch our weight and so on and so on.
I had Murphy’s laws posted on a door to my study in one of my houses. Murphy said, “If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong.” He said that the light at the end of the tunnel is the light of the oncoming train. And while these sayings are funny, sometimes they seem to reflect reality. So why do we have such a problem trusting in the Lord? I can honestly say that He has been there in a miraculous way when I needed him, but, yet I see many other Christian friends going through things that I hope the Lord never asks me to experience and I wonder, “Has the Lord forsaken them?” Will He one day forsake me if I depend on Him? I realize that Job is the one who experienced trials without complaining that the Lord had forsaken him. At the end of the trial, it is clear the Job was a testimony to Satan who thought that people worshipped God for practical blessing. But during the trial, it sure seemed like the Lord had forsaken him. Job must have had the assurance that comes with the promise in the verse that we are considering in this meditation. He seemed to have perfect peace and he did trust in the Lord.
Promises having to do with Anxiety
Sometimes we take Old Testament scriptures and assume they apply to us in the New Testament age when in fact they only apply to Israel or to the Psalmist or to the Lord. Then we can be disappointed when a supposed promise is not fulfilled in our lives. While the promise we are meditating on from Isaiah probably applies first to the faithful in Israel, the verse says that it applies to those who trust in the Lord, whose mind is centered on Him. So, I think it is fair to assume that the promise is for those of us who are saved today. But there are other promises that should encourage us:
The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! (Psalms 34:7-8 NKJV)
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27 NKJV)
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 NKJV)
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU." So we may boldly say: "THE LORD IS MY HELPER; I WILL NOT FEAR. WHAT CAN MAN DO TO ME?" (Hebrews 13:5-6 NKJV)
Trust
I know that both nature and nurture affect our anxiety levels. Some of us are born with the anxiety gene and some of us are raised in such a way that we think we are responsible for everyone and everything. But really, when we trust in ourselves instead of trusting in the Lord and in the work of the Holy Spirit, we are going to be anxious. None of us really feel like we are up to solving all the problems that come up in our lives. But I take comfort in a verse found in the Old Testament:
The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him. (Nahum 1:7 NKJV)
Let us never forget that the Lord is good and that He wants to bless us. He didn’t leave us alone until we trusted Him for salvation. And he will not leave us alone now that we are saved. He will keep us in perfect peace if our mind is centered on Him and if we trust Him.
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the weeks of February 24 and March 3, 2019