“You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm.” Isaiah 26:3 TEV
“You will never go wrong by doing what is right in God’s sight.”
My thoughts today are about “inner peace.”
Peace – an inner sense of undisturbed contentment – may be as elusive as any single thing. If you don’t have peace, whatever else you have won’t be enough. Whether circumstances are reassuring or distressing presently, what the Bible calls “perfect peace,” comes from within and not from without. I find it interesting that the Bible connects a person’s potential for real peace with that person’s firm purpose. At first, that would not have been an obvious association to me, yet the more I considered the concept the more I understood.
My thoughts find their basis in these verses: “Our city is strong. God Himself defends her walls . . let the faithful nation enter, the nation whose people do what is right. You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you. Trust in the lord forever; He will always protect us.” Isaiah 26:1-4 TEV. Can you even imagine what can only be described as perfect peace?
God’s “perfect peace” is reserved for the person whose life is focused everyday on a clear and Godly purpose. See 2 Timothy 1:9/Ephesians 1:7-12 NKJV. When your purpose is inseparable from God’s will and pleasure, you become inseparable from His peace. In that alone, you experience enduring peace, “an inner sense of undisturbed contentment,” that provides a focus that keeps your life on track. Barnabas “encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.” Acts 11:23 NKJV. A purpose of heart to be steadfast for God is a prerequisite for inner peace.
Isaiah described such people as a “nation whose people do what’s right,” because that is the right thing to do and what you choose to do. You will never go wrong by doing what is right in God’s sight, even when that seems counterintuitive at that moment. (Consider such examples in Romans 12:14-21/2 Corinthians 9:6-11 NKJV). Doing what’s right – right, as in understanding what’s righteous before God – is where one’s heart is at peace, undivided and unworried.
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them . . to be conformed to the image of His Son.” Romans 8:28-29 NLT/NKJV. Why would you not be undisturbed when you know God is working in the best and worst that happens?
My prayer for you today is that you live with Godly purpose and rest in God’s peace.