Slideshow image

“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.” Isaiah 26:3–4

Yesterday marked the beginning of the second week in the Advent season, when the Church traditionally shifts its focus from God’s HOPE in Christ to God’s PEACE in Christ. Today’s Scriptural encouragement comes from the prophet Isaiah’s writings in Isaiah 26:3–4. Isaiah ministered to the people of Israel during the same period as Micah and Hosea—a time when the future of both the Northern and Southern kingdoms was uncertain. The Assyrians were marching across the known world, conquering nation after nation, and Israel and Judah were squarely in their crosshairs.

There was a growing awareness that the nations’ wandering from and disobedience to God were leading toward His divine judgment. Yet even in the midst of that recognition—while the shadow of God’s wrath drew nearer—the prophet offered counsel to preserve the personal peace of those who desired it.

I am not suggesting that the United States is on the brink of imminent national judgment, but I do sense a rising uncertainty and insecurity over the past two decades regarding our nation’s future place in the world. And I do believe it is connected to our wandering from and disobedience to God. For that reason, Isaiah’s words—timeless and applicable to all peoples—are especially poignant for us today. There is counsel here that will maintain your personal peace, if you truly desire it.

The translators of Scripture have taken the Hebrew phrase “shalom, shalom” (literally peace, peace) and rendered it “perfect peace.” They have also taken the double pronouncement of God’s name, “YHWH Yah,” and translated it as “LORD God.” Isaiah took what was most longed for in the Hebraic mind—PEACE—and reduced its prescription to the simplest, clearest truth: GOD Himself.

For all who feel their life spinning out of control, who sense a rising anxiety or an impending heaviness about the future, there is an answer to your dilemma, and it is found in Yahweh—God.

In our national desire for equality we have embraced the idea of inclusion, but in doing so we have blurred the very focus that shaped our nation from the beginning—one that I believe God blessed for more than two centuries. We were once a nation under God, just as the Israelites were the children of the one true God. Over time, however, we have become a divided nation under many gods, so that everyone might feel welcome. Yet the principle Jesus taught—though originally spoken about Satan’s kingdom—applies to every kingdom, including any nation:
A house divided cannot stand (Matthew 12:25; Mark 3:25).

Abraham Lincoln understood this truth when he applied it to a nation torn apart over slavery. And the truth remains: if we desire the peace everyone claims to long for, we must be united in mind as we place our trust in the Lord God.

Here is the bottom-line encouragement: If our world—or our nation—does not come to a shared recognition that true peace comes only from exclusive trust in God, then we will continue as a divided kingdom, which eventually will fall and ultimately experience the consequences of turning from Him.

However, for those—even those who endure such a collapse—whose minds remain steadfast in trusting Him, peace will not only be present; it will endure. Forever.

And forever is a mighty long time—far beyond the 80, 90, or even 100 years we may experience in this life.

My peace cannot be destroyed because He is my everlasting Rock. … How about yours?