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. Isa. 26:3-4
Most kind and trustworthy Father, you haven’t promised us a storm-less, hassle-free, disappointment-empty life. You offer us no formulas for decreasing the probability of sad things happening around us, or disruptive things happening to us. But you havepromised something that transcends the predictable uncertainty of life—your peace.
You’ve promised to keep us in perfect peace in the midst of whatever happens. The older I get, the more I absolutely treasure the promise of being kept by you, because I simply cannot keep myself. I’m out of bootstraps to pull up; there’s no magic happy pill to take, no fix-it button to push. Thank you for being a Father who will never forget or abandon your children—who will never forget or abandon me.
But you’ve promised even more: you’ve promised to keep us in perfect peace. All we have to do is mine the riches of the gospel and keep in mind the wonders of your love. For you are the Lord—the eternal Rock that is higher than us, the Rock of refuge, the Rock of ages.
Because the gospel is true, because Jesus is the precious “living Stone” (1 Pet. 2:4-8), I won’t despair when I am weak in concentration and focus—when my grasp is slipping and my heart is wandering.
Indeed, Father, you’re not calling us to trust in our ability to trust, but to trust in you—in your trustworthiness. You’ve promised your children a peace that passes, surpasses, and at times even bypasses all understanding. Hallelujah, many times over.
What a God you are. There is none like you, Father, not one. You’ve made your peace with us through the gift of Jesus—the Prince of Peace. You cannot love us more, and you’ll never love us less. How great are your mercies, how profound your kindnesses, how more-than-sufficient your grace! So very Amen we pray in the exalted name of Jesus—the basis and bounty of all our peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment