Peace

Message in a Sundial

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You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3 NIV

“Every joy or trial, falleth from above: Traced upon our dial, by the sun of love.” When I sing those lines from, Like a River Glorious, I often picture the old sundial that sat at the end of my Great-grandmother’s garden. I remember that garden distinctly because I spent so many hours weeding it! My great-grandmother is now no longer here to see her garden, but the lessons about how the sundial tells time remind me of this hymn. The shadows of the trials as well as the joys that ebb and flow each day, tell the story of the time we are at in our lives. As believers in our Lord Jesus, we know that we belong to Him, we are bought with a price, and nothing touches our lives that He has not allowed. Though some days are bitter, and filled with trials, Jesus leads us through and the shadow that they cast on our hearts, tell us also that the sun of His love is shining. He is still in control, no matter what is happening. He knows the depth of our difficulties as well as the height of our joys. Do not despair, because at the end of the day, we can find as He promised, His perfect peace and rest!

A River Glorious

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You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3 NKJV

“Like a river glorious, flows God’s perfect peace.” This opening line of Frances Havergal’s hymn was written as she lay in her sickbed, while doctors suggested to her that she might not survive. Instead of allowing depression or panic to set in, Francis is famously quoted as saying, “If I am really going, it is too good to be true!” I wish I always had that kind of experience with God’s peace, when I am suffering. I am learning that the key to peace that flows like a glorious river, is that it has its source in God. As today’s verse says, we can have that peace when our mind is “stayed on” God. Instead of frittering away our time with useless activities, God invites us to come to His river, whose flow cannot be interrupted by circumstances, situations, or disasters. It is a stream of eternal hope. It is a peace that leads calmly on, when floods of sorrow are overwhelming, just as the Red Sea was held back as the children of Israel crossed. It is a peace that cools the flames of anger and persecution, just as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came safely out of the fiery furnace, with only their bonds burned away. What a great hope we have, and what strength flows from God’s river which flows freely, without fail from the foot of the cross, where our Lord Jesus poured out His blood for us. Will you look to Him and trust Him today? Will you fix your eyes on the beautiful face of Jesus, who offers us His perfect peace, if we will only trust in Him?

Peace – Before the Change

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Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites. Judges 6:24 ESV

Before God had helped him defeat the Midianites, and while he and his family were still being attacked and robbed, Gideon built an altar to the Lord. While some of his family and nearly everyone in his town were still worshiping Baal, Gideon named his altar, “The Lord is Peace.” Gideon had peace in the middle of those circumstances, because he had heard from God. Though how Gideon heard was different than us, God has given us an even better way of listening to Him. Everything God wants us to hear is written in between the front and back covers of our Bibles. He has provided for us promises of forgiveness, eternal life and grace, which Gideon could not have known. Of course, in our twenty-first century world we don’t have Midianites raiding our homes and farms, but we do face the same spiritual forces of destruction, false prophets and fear. The good news for us is that just as Gideon discovered God’s peace, in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul writes almost those same words for us:

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful." 
Colossians 3:15 ESV

So, today, before any change in your situation, even if those closest to you don’t’ believe it, remember – Jesus is our Peace – and just as He was with Gideon, He will be with you. Jesus has promised to never leave or forsake us; He has promised to be with us right here as well as in Heaven. So, no matter how things look around you right now, do not fear, because the Lord is our Peace!