Perfect Peace
How would you rate your peace? Is it perfect?
Verse of the Day
‘You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.’
Daily Devotional
(This devotional is a repeat from August 2020. We will get back to Pride and Humility soon.)
This verse is hard for me. I feel like I am hardly ever in perfect peace, or if I am, it’s for a very short period of time. Like a few seconds. My mind very quickly gets distracted or goes down some rabbit trail of worry or fear.
I had a conversation yesterday with a friend about this tendency for the mind to drift into worry, fear and anxiety. Unless I am talking authentically with another believer, it is very easy to believe that my brain is more messed up, more sinful than other people’s brains. My friend thought she was the only one whose brain spins out of control with anxiety. The more I talk to people, the more I realize that I am not alone in any struggle on this planet. Others feel the same or similar things. Only the details are different. I think it is important to have people with whom we can honestly talk about our struggles, about the lack of perfect peace that this verse describes.
If I am to have a steadfast mind, which means firmly fixed in place, then no matter what thoughts come into my mind, they need to be met with an immovable trust in God. I’ve lost my job and my brain starts freaking out…those thoughts should hit the wall of trust in my brain. My path feels uncertain and I don’t know what God’s will is…..those thoughts need to run smack into my trust that God will lead if I will follow.
The thoughts are not the problem. Those will happen because we are human and because the devil is real. The problem is what do I do with those thoughts? Do I combat them with truth? Do I intentionally remind my brain how much God loves me? Do I trust God with helping me capture my thoughts and make them obedient to the work of Christ? I heard say something that fits here: “Our thoughts are like the birds. We can’t keep them from flying, but we can keep them from building a nest.”
The other problem I think we all have is not recognizing when our brains are creating chaos. I can have a fearful thought and allow it to remain and fester for a while before I even realize what’s going on. Think about what Paul said about capturing every thought and making it obedient to Christ. How can I capture an invading thought in my brain if I’m not aware of what’s going on? I need to be willing to think about what I’m thinking about. That sounds weird, but how else can we capture something unless we know it’s there?
God’s word says that we can have perfect peace. And I believe this is not a reward that is saved for heaven. I believe my peace is in direct proportion to my trust. And that is very convicting for me. I have been in a season of stress, and it has not felt very peaceful. That tells me that I am allowing my brain to focus on the problems of this world and my thoughts and fears surrounding them. It also tells me that I need to build and strengthen my trust in God. I do that by reading the Word and looking for His faithfulness. I do that by looking at my life and remembering how faithful God has been. Using those things, I need to build and strengthen the wall of trust in my brain so the errant thoughts have no choice but to run into that an immovable trust in God.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How would you rate your current level of peace?
How would you rate your current level of trust?
Are you willing to think about what you are thinking about?
What can you do today that will build your immovable wall of trust in God, which in turn will increase your peace?
Who do you have in your life that you can be really vulnerable with?
What thoughts and fears do you need to combat with God’s truth today?