Week of Monday December 2 – December 8
Perfect Peace – Man as Chaplain
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. For he has humbled the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy. The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous. " -Isaiah 26:3-7 ESV
I have seen my fair share of warfare, some waged openly and some clandestinely but nonetheless deadly. More often than not, some sort of conflict, military or otherwise, is happening somewhere around the globe. After 9/11, The New York Times published an article by Chris Hedges titled “What Every Person Should Know About War.” In the article, he poses the question, “Has the world ever been at peace?” He answers that, “Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history.”
The book of Isaiah provides more proof of just how much warfare there is in human history. This chapter follows several of Isaiah’s prophecies that speak of God’s coming judgment on sinful nations and even His own rebellious people. Often in the Old Testament, God’s judgment took the form of military invasions, sieges, and wars. Yet beyond the devastation of war, God promised to bring perfect peace to the hearts and minds of those willing to trust in Him.
These promises echo down to us as well. Hear and remember what the prophet Isaiah says in verse 4: “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” This promise reminds us of Solomon’s words to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6 ESV).
One of the most important ways we can lead our families and friends spiritually is to encourage them to stand firm in their trust and dependence on God in the face of life’s great challenges. I realize that sometimes that is a tall order. As famed British pastor Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, “To trust God in the light is nothing, but trust him in the dark—that is faith.” It is often in the darkness when our faith in God shines the brightest. And by trusting in the Lord, we set in motion the life of faith our children and grandchildren need to see on display in our lives each and every day.
One of the key elements in these words of Isaiah is his emphasis on the role of the mind in verse 3: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you.” Our mind is perhaps the place where the greatest battles rage. The enemy is after our mind, our focus, our thought life. If he can capture us there, he will not only attempt to destroy us but our loved ones as well.
This is why Paul encourages us to adopt the mindset of Christ, saying, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5 NKJV). If that was not clear enough, he also urges us to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5 ESV). In other words, to live like Jesus, we need to think like Jesus. The greatest thing we can provide our family with is a man who thinks and lives like Jesus. If we model the Prince of Peace, trusting Him and obeying Him decision by decision, step by step, even when conflict swirls around us, we can experience perfect peace.
Perfect Peace – Man as Chaplain
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. For he has humbled the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy. The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous. " -Isaiah 26:3-7 ESV
I have seen my fair share of warfare, some waged openly and some clandestinely but nonetheless deadly. More often than not, some sort of conflict, military or otherwise, is happening somewhere around the globe. After 9/11, The New York Times published an article by Chris Hedges titled “What Every Person Should Know About War.” In the article, he poses the question, “Has the world ever been at peace?” He answers that, “Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history.”
The book of Isaiah provides more proof of just how much warfare there is in human history. This chapter follows several of Isaiah’s prophecies that speak of God’s coming judgment on sinful nations and even His own rebellious people. Often in the Old Testament, God’s judgment took the form of military invasions, sieges, and wars. Yet beyond the devastation of war, God promised to bring perfect peace to the hearts and minds of those willing to trust in Him.
These promises echo down to us as well. Hear and remember what the prophet Isaiah says in verse 4: “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” This promise reminds us of Solomon’s words to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6 ESV).
One of the most important ways we can lead our families and friends spiritually is to encourage them to stand firm in their trust and dependence on God in the face of life’s great challenges. I realize that sometimes that is a tall order. As famed British pastor Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, “To trust God in the light is nothing, but trust him in the dark—that is faith.” It is often in the darkness when our faith in God shines the brightest. And by trusting in the Lord, we set in motion the life of faith our children and grandchildren need to see on display in our lives each and every day.
One of the key elements in these words of Isaiah is his emphasis on the role of the mind in verse 3: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you.” Our mind is perhaps the place where the greatest battles rage. The enemy is after our mind, our focus, our thought life. If he can capture us there, he will not only attempt to destroy us but our loved ones as well.
This is why Paul encourages us to adopt the mindset of Christ, saying, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5 NKJV). If that was not clear enough, he also urges us to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5 ESV). In other words, to live like Jesus, we need to think like Jesus. The greatest thing we can provide our family with is a man who thinks and lives like Jesus. If we model the Prince of Peace, trusting Him and obeying Him decision by decision, step by step, even when conflict swirls around us, we can experience perfect peace.
- Do you get caught up in the conflicts swirling around you, or are you a source of peace in the midst of the storm? How would those who know you best answer?
- How do you manage your mind? What disciplines do you deploy to keep your mind focused on the things of God?
- Ask God to help you “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” who is the Prince of Peace.