Isaiah 26:3 – You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You. We experience peace in mind when we keep all elements which take away peace out of our minds. Peace is linked with our thought process which is influenced by so many internal and external factors. When we allow our minds to be influenced by these factors, we are plunged into fear, anxiety, distress and disillusionment which take our peace away from us. They allow our minds to be controlled by the consequences of the events or circumstances which make us fearful or anxious. This is how we loose our peace of mind. But the Bible gives us a way to avert these negative feelings which is to keep our minds steadfast on the Lord who can control all the fear and anxiety factors. Our circumstances could be disastrous and destructive with a lot of negative consequences. But these would not affect us if we keep dwelling under the shadow and wings of the Lord. Our God can avert these eventualities and give us deliverance from it all. But even if these happen, they need not bother us because the Lord can avert their impact from us. For our minds to be kept in perfect peace in the worst scenarios of life, all we need to do is to keep our minds fixed on the person and the promises of the Lord. When we fix our thoughts and trust on the Lord, we are fixing it on His power, strength, deeds, mercy, benevolence, blessings, grace and other attributes which are all working for His children all the time. His promises are eternally secure in Heaven. They do not change and are true as surely as He lives. He never changes and is the same yesterday and today and forever. So when we trust in the Lord, all His promises work for us irrespective our circumstances and the things which try to take away our peace. As we trust Him, He stands guard in our hearts to see to it that we dwell in peace which He gives to us as a gift. He gives us peace in all circumstances, but we need to appropriate His peace by faith and make it our special asset so that we can live without anxiety or fear about our circumstances.
Dear friend, is your mind disturbed today because of the possible consequences of what is happening around you? Are you boggled with the clogged world economy, miry international relations, volatile climatic and environmental setting, and how these might affect you or what is dear to your heart? Are you feeling the heat of the attack of the enemy on you and your situations? Is there a tendency on your part to expect the worst out of the situations that you face either at your work place, neighbourhood, family or your finances? You are admonished by the Word of God to take your eyes off your circumstances and situations, and fix it on the Lord who rules and overrules all your situations according to His will. When negative thoughts come to you, it has to be crucified with Christ, killed and buried so that they would not bother you. If they come back, repeat the exercise of crucifying it with Christ. Do not be tempted to keep your burdens to yourself because if you keep it yourself, soon you will be weary and tired and suffocate with stress. If your mind is forced to carry more burden than it can carry, you will break down emotionally. When the mind is full of burdens which are negative, it will soon affect your body also and will influence your heart to fall into unbelief thinking that there is no escape for you. But if you keep your mind fixed on the Lord, He will sustain you and make you strong. If you give your burdens to the Lord, He will carry it for you. But He will not take it from you by force. Your Lord expects you to trust Him to carry your burdens for you and so He wants you to voluntarily submit all your burdens to Him. He wants you to nail every negative thought to the cross. As you do this, your heart and mind will be flooded with the peace of God which passes all understanding. This is the opportunity you are given today to live in perfect peace and use your mind to praise God for the peace that He bestows upon you. Those who trust in the Lord will enjoy His peace, love and care no matter what their circumstances are.
Psalms 29:11 – The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace. Thought for TodayIf we do not seek the peace of God by putting our trust and faith in the Lord, the circumstances will cut us into pieces.
