Stephen spoke on Isaiah 26:3 at the family service. This must be one of my all-time favourite Bible verses and one I constantly need reminding of!
“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.” (Is 26:3-4)
We also looked at the same verses from the Amplified version:
“You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].”
In Deuteronomy 6, we are exhorted to love God with all we have – which includes our minds! Inner tranquillity is available to those who will trust in God. The peace God offers is perfect and is so much more than simply a cessation of war: ‘Shalom’ means wholeness, health, preservation and completeness. In Philippians 4, Paul talks about the ‘peace of God which transcends all understanding’, a peace which can guard our hearts and our minds. We need to have stability of thought – rather like Tootles whose joy was returned when he got his marbles (his ‘happy thoughts’) back.
We can have joy and peace in God by fixing our minds on Him. We maintain our joy by giving Him our minds as well as everything we are and have. Trials and tribulations will still come, but God’s presence and peace are available for those who trust in Him.