You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
– Isaiah 26:3
This is quite a promise. In fact, it is such a profound promise it is hard to believe. It is particularly hard to believe because none of us has ever experienced it. We have had periods of peace, but never perfect peace. We could barely imagine or define such a thing in this chaotic world. And when we hear this promise we hear the condition on which it is made:perfect peace is for those whose mind is stayed on you. So maybe the reason we lack perfect peace is because of our failure to trust God?
Certainly, we don’t perfectly trust God; we fall short of that every day. But that’s not what the verse says. It says our minds should be stayed on God–that is rooted in God, clinging to God, depending on God. That’s not a description of perfection. It’s a description of faith.
And when we have that clinging, desperate faith he will give us perfect peace. Not necessarily in circumstances or even in mental or emotional serenity, but in Christ. That’s why it can be called perfect peace. This verse from the Old Testament promises the peace of Christ–the solid, immovable, gentle, comforting, healing, victorious peace of Christ–both in this life and for eternity.
I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville, in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe.
