Isaiah 26:1-21 Perfect Peace
The result of all of God’s work is perfect peace for His people. The time is coming when ALL reproach is gone for the believer. A time when belief in God is universal.
I often wonder how anyone can deny the existence of God. How ANY could say there is no God or replace Him with other gods. LOOK! The evidence of a Creator is ALL AROUND you!!! I have a feeling that it is not the God of creation that they are denying but the God who expects to be above all else. The God who requires His people to love one another, to be a neighbor to all, and to recognize ALL that He is. THE God who is perfect and has dominion over ALL things. The God who loves US enough to make a way for imperfect man to have a relationship with Him. Not just to offer Him sacrifices to appease His anger but to spend time in His presence and get to KNOW Him on a personal level.
ALL OTHER gods man has created or imagined are supposed to have power over one area or another of this world. IF you give them enough sacrifices and offerings, they will give you good things or prevent bad ones from happening. This leaves man in a never-ending cycle of ‘when and what is enough’? Those gods never ‘spoke’ except in ‘signs’ of withholding or providing a specific thing; rain, abundant harvest, favorable winds, etc. And there were gods for every little aspect of man’s life. Forever requiring one to balance how much was offered to which one before another was angered. NO peace in this kind of existence or worship.
The ACTUL Creator of ALL has power over EVERY aspect of our lives and universe. He spoke it ALL into existence and balanced the workings of it for OUR benefit. He knows our needs even better than we do. He is the ONLY God who has claimed to be before time began and after it ends. He is even Master of time itself. He made the sun stand still in the sky for about a day for the sake of His people and at the request of Joshua. He is the ONLY God who has power over life and death. He has raised the dead and even returned life into a valley of dry bones. (This portion may have happened only in a vision but HE is the only God who could even consider this a task able to be accomplished.) He is master of space and can move man from one spot to another in an instant, regardless of the distance between those two points. He can speak to us of the future through dreams and visions; even to those who do not know Him. He even has control over gravity! He demonstrated this by making an iron axe head float upward in the water.
With ALL THESE AMAZING powers, He still speaks to and seeks time with individuals. In ALL the stories of Jesus’ ministry, the miracles done blessed individual people. Even the two times He fed multitudes, it was for the individual’s benefit. No nation, no special interest group, no unique characteristics required for those meals. He fed ALL who came to hear Him. (I wonder if anyone left early because they got hungry. If so, they missed a MAJOR miracle and a GREAT meal!) He even cares about the most vulnerable of all; the children.
He heals the broken-hearted, sets the captive free, restores health, gives sight to the blind, makes the lame to walk, give speech to the dumb, and breaks the bonds of oppression. He LOVES and VALUES EACH and EVERY life. He counts each as special, unique, made for a purpose. When we stray from Him, He waits with open arms to receive us back. He forgives us when we come to Him with our failings. He restores our relationship WITHOUT penalizing us. We don’t have to earn back His love when we fail in some way. He gives it freely to ANY who ask. He is the ONLY source of salvation with a promise of eternal life. He in the conquer of death and the grave. He is the ONLY source of PERFECT peace.
There is “peace”, “inner peace” and “perfect peace.” Peace can be the absence of war or fighting. Nations who are free from invading armies have peace, but it is fragile. It can be lost at any time. Inner peace is when you feel free of stress and at ease with yourself. This is even more fragile. One wrong word can revive old hurts or stir new turmoil. Perfect peace is peace is not dependent on you or even anyone else. It is a gift of God. It begins with KNOWING, without a doubt that ALL He has promised is true. It is dependent on trust in God; no one else. It is the ideal that we are all longing for. It is a promise He has given us that we will one day achieve. It is HIS work alone that will accomplish it.
When ALL His work is done, there will be NO MORE sin. NO MORE death. NO MORE disease. NO MORE war. NO MORE fear. NO MORE doubt. And NO MORE questions. ALL will see that He is God; the God we have trusted in for so long. The God who is above ALL things. The God we spoke about and urged others to come to. The God we refused to deny, no matter the cost.
That time is still to come. The day when ALL nations and people acknowledge that He Is God. Until that day comes, we hold onto the beginnings of the perfect peace He gives us when we come to Him. We cling to His promises with both hands and feet. Our heart rests in assurance of Who He is and how much He loves us. And any time we are in doubt, we look back at the evidence He has provided for us!
GOD LOVES YOU! He will NEVER leave you if you will just come to Him. Let Him prove Himself to you. No. Every day will not be perfect and without problems. No. You will not be perfect and without sin. But He will walk beside you from that moment until the end of eternity. He will give you His strength where you had none of your own. He will even pursue you with love when you fail or try and hide from Him. You can TRUST Him with your LIFE!
Father God, THANK YOU for that promise! THANK YOU that I KNOW You will bring perfect peace for ALL and have given me a measure of it to hold onto until it is fulfilled. EVERY TIME I begin to wonder or turn to fear, You remind me of Your promises. I don’t always grab hold of those promises the first time You bring them up but I do get there again. To the place of peace and trust in You. I’m SO GLAD that this peace isn’t dependent on me! It wouldn’t last if it was. But I KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT that I can TRUST You in ALL things! THAT is where my peace comes from. And the world can’t take it from me!!!
