When you trust someone, it makes you a calmer person. Peace is one of the biggest branches on the tree of trust.
Isaiah 26:3 (NLT) “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”
The word, “keep” means, “to guard, protect or maintain.” The enemy is not able to get in when God’s peace protects us. With God as our guard we have nothing to fear. The phrase, “perfect peace” is literally, “shalom, shalom” in Hebrew. “Shalom” means “completion and fulfillment”
Psalm 29:11 (NLT) “The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace.”
2 Thessalonians 3:16 (NLT) “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.”
God’s peace comes to us in the midst of our most difficult struggles and challenges. Perfect peace comes not from the absence of bad circumstances but the reassuring presence of God despite the circumstances.
*Isaiah 26:4 (NLT) “Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.”
This is the secret of perfect peace. It comes from trust in the Lord, in spite of the trials.
Isaiah 25:9 (NLT) “In that day the people will proclaim, “This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the Lord, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!”
When we think too much about our problems, challenges and responsibilities we are facing – we can easily become worried and anxious. Instead of peace we experience turmoil. Yet, in all the trials of life, God promises to keep us in perfect peace if we turn our thoughts to God and keep our minds ‘stayed’ on him, trusting in him.
Trust in the Lord. Keep your mind steadfastly focused on him. And when you do, you will be kept in perfect peace. The world will be just as troubled. And conflict will continue. But we can be at peace. Not because this world is in good shape. But because the one who holds us in His hand is greater than all of the problems facing us.
Peace comes when we discipline our thoughts to stay centered on God. The word “thought” refers to “mindset or a frame of mind. Set your mind on God.