Auden to tell us that we live in the Age of Anxiety. Yet many of us who claim that we are saved do not experience consistent peace. It’s interesting that in the Old Testament, the meanings for the words peace and salvation are nearly synonymous. If we are “stayed upon Jehovah” we will remain steady even if the earth around us sways.If I were to ask, “Do you believe in God?” you would probably say, “Why yes, of course.” And if I were to ask, “Do you know God?” you might respond, “Yes, and I wish I knew Him better.” But if I were to ask, “Do you have a deep, consistent, abiding sense of peace?” I suspect that you would reply, “No, I don’t.” ![]() Like Frances Havergal in her song, “Stayed Upon Jehovah”, we must fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Our trust is in the One who is a tested and tried stone, the Solid Rock the One who is a sure foundation. Warren Wiersbe reminds us that “The peace of God is not the absence of problems it is the presence of divine sufficiency in the midst of problems.” George Morrison said, “Peace is the possession of adequate resources” and those resources come from the Lord when you yield your heart and mind to Him. Certainly we’re tempted to be dismayed by our troubles, but the key to trust is to turn our hearts to the Lord in prayer as we stand on His promises. Trying to support both attitudes would be like rubbing coarse sand paper against the grain of fine furniture and expecting beautiful results. However when we fully trust God problems will not dismay or overwhelm us, for dismay and trust simply cannot coexist. We awaken and the same old problem looms over the new day! We go to bed with the problem on our hearts and if sleep does come it may very well be diluted by a dream (or even a nightmare) that relates to the problem. We approach the problem from every angle and get everyone’s take on it. We keep getting our minds and hearts off the Lord and onto the problem at hand. “Whose mind is stayed on Thee” that’s the key, and that’s where I suspect so many of us have the problem. Other versions state, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in you” (ESV) and “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You” (NIV). ![]() Isaiah in chapter 26:3 shares a truth held dear by many believers: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.” This is the KJV, which we memorized it in. ![]() What dismays you today? What glorious truth our daily Scripture verse conveys! There’s a lot to dismay us, isn’t there? World situations, national tragedies, personal matters they can all dismay, often concurrently. I often shared Isaiah 26:3 which we soon put to memory and have both found this passage to be a spiritual healing balm when going through troubling circumstances. I asked John, “What does John 3:16 say?” He correctly answered “For God so loved the world….” I looked at Isaiah and asked, “What does Isaiah 26:3 say?” Not surprisingly he was stumped, since it’s not nearly as familiar as John 3:16.ĭuring our young dating years in Bible College Brooksyne and I often exchanged Scripture verses in our written correspondence (long before email, texting, and cell phones were available). I spontaneously gave them a quiz based upon their Bible names. During a chaplain visit last week I walked through a factory and came upon John and Isaiah, two men whom I knew were Christians.
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