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. 26:3-4The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:7
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 disillusioning things happening to us. But you have promised something that transcends the uncertainty and the predictable unpredictability of life. You’ve promised to keep us in perfect peace, no matter what happens or who threatens. Hallelujah, several times over!
“Being kept by you”… what price tag can we possibility put on such assurance and hope? What bullion can compare what that currency? Father, I treasure the promise of being kept by you. I’ve been convinced afresh that I 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 everlasting the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Rock that is higher than me; the Rock of refuge that offers shelter found nowhere else: the Rock of ages from which eternal life flows freely to us.
Because the gospel is true, because Jesus is the precious “living Stone” (1 Pet. 2:4-8), I will not despair when I am weak in concentration and focus. Indeed, Father, you’re not calling me to trust in my ability to trust, but to trust in you—in your trustworthiness. For you’ve even promised your children a peace that passes, surpasses, and at times even bypasses all understanding. Hallelujah!
What a God you are! How great are your mercies, how profound your kindnesses, how more-than-sufficient your grace. So very Amen we pray, in the name of Jesus—the Prince of Peace.
