Perfect Peace

Wow. I haven’t posted in a long time. I used to have a goal of 4 posts per month, but because of other priorities and lack of Internet, that goal has fallen by the wayside. I might have to shoot for two per month. :) I knew I at least had to post once during the month of November – being the great month it is (Thanksgiving, my birthday…).

These past few weeks have been interesting – hard, but interesting. I have began looking for a new or second job; my car has begun to show its age and has been excessively needy (which is quite unfortunate for my checkbook); and there have been other things happen that I’d rather not share on here. In the midst of all this, the Lord Jesus has been ever so gracious to minister to me in special ways. Last week, He showed me His love through my brothers and sisters in Christ who were more than willing to help bear my burdens through prayer and any assistance they could give. This week He brought certain Scriptures to my mind to prepare me for the day ahead. On Wednesday, I had a job interview and Jesus spoke peace to me through Micah 5:5a ("and He shall be their peace"). Then He immediately reminded me of His words in Isaiah 26:3-4, John 14:25-31 and Philippians 4:4-7. As I meditated on Isaiah 26, I noticed the little adjective perfect that I had overlooked before (even though I had memorized the verse):

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.

The peace of Jesus Christ is perfect. It does not waver or change. It is stable and constant and complete. It is not a sort of half-way comfort or mystical peace of mind. The difficulties are still there, but the awareness of God and His sovereignty over them overshadows them. When I have His peace (which means my focus is on Him and not my circumstances), then I cannot be shaken. I was reminded of this as I faced things later that day that threated that peace. God, in His graciousness, prepared me for the day ahead.

On Thursday morning, the Lord gave me these words as I was working:

Lord, you are the my Portion in the land of the living. My soul thirsts for You. Satisfy me in the morning with Your steadfast love. For my hope is in You. (portions of Psalms 145, 63 & 143, 90 and 39)

The Lord was reminding me that He is my great Treasure. I have no good apart from Him (Psalm 16:1). He is completely satisfying…and He is mine! :) Things happened later that threatened to shake this satisfaction, but, again, God, in His graciousness, prepared me for the day ahead.

The RF sermon from this morning further solidified these lessons. The message was from Micah 7:1-7 and it was about trusting and waiting upon the Lord during our misery and then being expecting Him to hear and answer us. He answers us because we are His. This was a good reminder for me because the Lord has been teaching me much about trusting Him completely and waiting upon Him patiently, but I have not done a good job of being expectant of Him answering me. As I listened to this part of the sermon (and furiously took notes), my soul was overjoyed. Of course, He will answer me! How could I be so faithless?

And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. 1 John 5:14

My prayer of late is that the Lord Jesus would give me His desires. I want the desires of my heart to reflect Him – His will, plan, character and heart. When that happens – my desires match Jesus’ desires – then I can confidently ask for anything and know that it is in His will and know that I will receive what I ask for. He promises to always hear me and to always be with me and to give me everything I need and more.

Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. Psalm 34:5