Inner Peace

INNER PEACE

(Is.26:3)

Near the time of his capture and death, Jesus gave a message to His disciples that everyone of us still yearns for:

Peace, said Jesus, peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives

do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid. (Jh.14:27)

But our hearts do become troubled; we live in fear of our safety or our health or our financial security; sometimes the slightest aggravation can upset us for the rest of the day. As we watch the hair of our president continue to gray from the stresses and strains of leading a superpower nation, it is a silent reminder to all of us of how the toils and cares of life continue to rob us of this most precious commodity that Jesus offers- PEACE. I call it “inner peace”

because “outer peace” in the world we live in is always short-lived. Jesus said: “…there will always be wars or rumors of war.”(Mt.24:6) You can be assured that because of sin and its pervasive grip on mankind that outward peace will remain a dream until Jesus Christ returns to establish a new heaven and a new earth. Then as Scripture says….He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away. (Rev.21:4)

The peace Jesus was giving to His disciples is the same peace He wants to give to you and me.

It is an inner peace that has nothing to do with the world- its outside circumstances and events.

Christians being burned at the stake, suffering from chronic pain because of sickness or disease,

living in hostile or barren conditions have described receiving this inward peace. Charles Spurgeon once described it : “…the more disturbed a Christian man is, the purer is his peace; the heavier the rolling swell of his griefs and sorrows, the more still, and calm, and profound is the peace that reigns within his heart…divinely born, divinely nourished, and one which is quite above the influence of this poor whirling world.” (Spurgeon, Spiritual Peace, p. 4)

To most of our ears such talk sounds like empty fantasy or something for a saint far beyond my reach. Still there have been in our past those moments when we felt an indescribable peace

which fleeting as it was reminded us that the Master is not as absent as we may think. How then can we have this peace? Isaiah 26:3 gives us an answer:

Thou does keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because He trusts in Thee.

Our mind is the governing seat of power for our body. Whatever is in our heart or whatever emotion is vying for control, signals are sent to and from the brain after which we take some action. So rightfully so Isaiah tells us that for divine peace to come, our mind must be focused on the Lord, the giver and creator of this indescribable peace. The point of focusing on the Lord

is important because in any governing seat of power you want to have the right person in control. Most of the time I think I am in control of my own mind, but you have only to get

me angry and then my anger takes control or scare me and then fear takes control, and Isaiah is saying, Peter, you have to keep your mind steadfast on the Lord, you can’t be surrendering

control of your mind to this emotion or that one, this event or that one; it is the Lord-- the government of your mind will be upon His shoulder that is why His name will be called

“wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace…

There you see if you want the inner peace, then let the Prince of Peace be in charge of the

government of your mind- thou will keep him/her in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on the Prince of Peace.

But we are easily distracted by pain and sorrow and hurt, by greed or envy or plain outright physical needs. Staying focused is no simple matter; just your effort to listen to this message

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is loss time and again in other thoughts and desires. We talk about attention deficit disorders in children, but it is rare for any of us to keep our attention focused on anything for longer than a few minutes. Still the jewel of inner peace requires a mind stayed on Thee. The answer Isaiah gives us for inner peace ( a mind fixed solely on the Lord) may be too difficult for us to do

and should be difficult for the reward is very great.