READING: Isaiah 26-27, Philippians 2
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
Isaiah 26:3
Maybe you’re old enough to remember this process of scripture memorization. As a college student, I went to the local Bible bookstore and bought a packet of scripture memorization cards. Each card had a pre-selected verse written on one side, with the scripture reference written on the other. My friends and I simply memorized each verse, without regard for the context or the meaning of the text. We just assumed the verse was an important one since somebody had decided to include it in the packet.
Two of those verses were Isaiah 26:3-4—“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.” I didn’t give much thought to their meaning back then, but they mean much to me today. In this chapter, Isaiah wrote of a future Jerusalem filled with peace and security—a city with gates open for the righteous to enter. That city would consist of individuals who themselves would experience God’s full, complete, perfect peace when they locked their hearts and minds on Him. Their resolute focus on God and their complete trust in Him would result in a peace that only God can give. And, because God is Himself the “everlasting rock,” they could thus trust in Him forever (Isa. 26:4).
Perfect peace—how I long to experience that reality! I am reminded today that this peace comes when I turn to God and lean fully on Him; it comes when I lock my eyes on the Father rather than on the circumstances that rob me of my peace. I continue to learn that it’s impossible to have such peace when I keep one eye on God and the other eye on my troubles. No such double-minded person can be fully trusting God.
ACTION STEPS:
- Thank God that He is the everlasting rock on whom you can depend.
- Memorize Isaiah 26:3-4 this week.
PRAYER: “Father, thank You for the perfect peace You give me.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Isaiah 28-29, Philippians 3
