A Double Dose of Peace / Mrs Heidi McIntyre

Mrs Heidi McIntyre

Pastor's Wife

Victory Baptist Church

Richmond, IN

A Double Dose of Peace

Recently, my nine year old came home from church very perplexed about something that she had heard the teacher say in junior church that morning.  He had told the kids that worrying is a sin.  My daughter (who is quite a little thinker) just could not understand how something so natural to do would be wrong.  I love that she was listening in class and came home with something to think about!

I will admit that I tend to worry.  Just when it seems like I have life fairly figured out and things are going smoothly, it throws me for a loop, and I find myself worrying again.  We’ve all heard it said that worrying is a woman’s prerogative!  Sometimes it seems like we actually believe that!  My mom reminded my brother once about something important coming up that he needed to take care of.  Stephen is very even-keel and does not get worked up over much.  He teasingly told my mom that he would set a reminder on his phone to “start worrying” at a later date closer to the event coming up.  This made us laugh (and, truth be told, he maybe should have “worried” about it more than he did), but it got me thinking about how we so often allow our troubles and cares to weigh us down instead of giving them to God.

Is it possible for us to have inner peace during troubled times?  Can we really feel the true peace of God when it can seem that things are falling in around us and we feel overwhelmed?  Or should we just resign ourselves to living in worry and fear and defeat?  We worry about all kinds of things, big and small, don’t we!?  I will just briefly share with you what God has been teaching me recently.  I certainly have a lot to learn! 

Isaiah 26:3,4 says Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.  Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.

The word “keep” is a military term, meaning to guard, protect, or maintain.  Nothing can hurt us with God as our protector!    

“Perfect peace” is literally translated “shalom, shalom” in Hebrew, meaning peace, peace.  When Isaiah repeated the word shalom, he was giving extra emphasis.  We often look for pleasant circumstances or possessions to bring us peace, but real peace is found internally, not externally.  

What is the condition for this promise of a double dose of peace? 

1.       Keeping our mind stayed on Jesus.  In other words, keeping our focus on God, not on circumstances.  

 

This reminds me of the apostle Peter sinking in the water.  Because he took his focus off of Jesus, He found himself in a place totally out of his control.  I can imagine his fear when he began sinking into the stormy waters.  For a moment he forgot the presence of His Lord and saw only the storm.  We, like Peter, prefer to feel in control of our own lives and become fearful when the situation is out of our power to change!  Satan loves to take our minds off of God and onto our problems.  That is how He can make us ineffective Christians.  How often could so much worry and fear be avoided by simply learning to focus on God and relying on His strength instead of our own! Only then will we find the perfect peace of God.  I love how the song writer wrote….”Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest; finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.” 

 

2.       Trusting our future to Jesus. 

Corrie Ten Boom said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its troubles; it empties today of its strength.”  This was a lady who had experienced many trials in her life, yet she had true inner peace that only comes from knowing and trusting God.  We cannot fully enjoy the blessings God has for us when we are consumed with worry.  Give your health, your spouse, your children, your home, your job, your ministry, and everything you have to Jesus and trust Him to take care of it.  There is nothing He cannot handle and nothing gained from worrying.  The Bible says, “Take no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself: sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

Give your worries to Jesus, keep your mind stayed on Him, and trust your future to God.  You can experience the double peace the Bible promises!