DIY Toolbox-Fix Your Broken Peace Part I

 You will keep him in perfect peace

    whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. Isaiah 26:3-4

This is a lovely and much quoted piece of scripture especially in times of trouble. However, the common habit of taking a nip here and nip there of scripture is never quite as enriching as when you go back and read a whole portion in its context.

The setting of this particular one is eschatological and makes for interesting reading especially in light of the times we live in. It begins all the way back in Isaiah 24 like this;

Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste,

Distorts its surface
And scatters abroad its inhabitants.
And it shall be:
As with the people, so with the priest;
As with the servant, so with his master;
As with the maid, so with her mistress;
As with the buyer, so with the seller;
As with the lender, so with the borrower;
As with the creditor, so with the debtor. Isaiah 24:1-3

In other words, a time is coming, says the prophet, when God’s judgement will sweep across the earth. And it shall be that one’s status in life will not protect him.

The priest and the lay man,

The subordinate and the boss,

The sophisticated lady and their humble house-help,

The buyer and the trader,

The lenders and the borrower (fuliza people et al)

All will be similarly affected.

I think this is all in the future but what are the odds that this scenario depicts circumstances similar to those which we now find ourselves in? I think the odds are pretty high. Consider this; Covid-19 has infected and affected all regardless of their station in life.

You see my friend, sometimes the future casts its shadow onto the present. This is to say that future events are often foreshadowed by lesser but similar events in the present. And I have good reasons to think this is actually happening now.

So, how exactly are things unfolding?

In the wake of the global pandemic, a great fear has seized the world. Covid-19 is no respecter of persons and in the eyes of many, it has greatly increased the odds of personal tragedy. An even bigger majority worry about the loss of livelihood. Anxious thoughts abound;

“How will I feed my family?

“Will we be able to maintain our way of living in a failing economy?”

“What if I catch it?”

As things stand, everyone is longing for a normalization of things. We are all hoping that things can go back to the way they were before. This is our heart-cry for inner peace.

In the meantime, individuals (me included), have been trying to encourage one another with kind words and pithy quotes from scripture. Other more militant ones have taken to making all manner of decrees and declarations. 

All this may be well and good.  In Kenya we say, “kila mtu apambane na hali yake!”. 

Now, before I say some good things, I am going to say some hard things that I have been trying to avoid saying. You may not necessarily agree with me, but I feel that these need to be said regardless.

1.     I know a few friends who have been fighting the devil over this crisis day and night in their prayers. Please stop it. You are wasting precious spiritual resources. 'Bruh', this pandemic is beyond even the Devil 'himselufu'!

Don’t flatter the Evil One with that much credit. He has serious limitations but he will not miss an opportunity to divert our attention with fake battles. Appeal to God Himself…and not necessarily for Kenya or for the world but first for yourself and for your loved ones. I will explain this last point later.

2.     God hates a false promise given in His Name as much as He hates false prophets. If you are a person of influence, unless you have heard expressly from the Lord, stop making promises of hope to the more vulnerable people. Instead pray that you may be able to interpret the times. Ask God for wisdom on how you can prepare your listeners for what is yet to come.

3.     The global pandemic will not go away soon. This is already in the public domain. This has consequences for everyone’s way of life. Prepare your mind for the long haul and start thinking about best- and worst-case scenarios-how you will navigate unchartered waters.

So that’s that and like Pilate let me say (with greatly reduced humility😒); “What I have written, I have written.”

Are we stuck then? No!

As it turns out, peace of mind will become the rarest and therefore the most precious commodity. If you have it, then you are in a much better position to face the future than a million others. A mind unclouded by paralyzing anxiety can think clearly. A clear mind can discern and propose suitable actions to take advantage of opportunities. In today’s world, that can be a great competitive advantage! I therefore want to propose a better way other than;

-      The passivity that comes with resigning to fate or

-      Spending precious hours fighting the Devil or

-      Listening to false promises.

I put now it to you that the better way is always found in the word of God. God has already given us a toolbox of sorts to fix our peace.

Consider this; in that beautiful first verse, which comes right in the middle of a yet-to-be-seen global disaster, God inspired His prophet to tell us;

 I (God) will keep him in perfect peace

    whose mind is stayed on Me, because he trusts in Me.

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

Did you know that sacred scripture is sometimes compared to bread--food for the soul of man? Today if you ask me I'd contend that Isaiah 26:3 is a tasty morsel especially in these hard times. Again, if you ask me, I’d say that it can be cut up into a few slices to be eaten slowly as one savors the lingering taste of a word well spoken (Proverbs 15:23).

 I know a few minds that cannot think of bread without their thoughts drifting off to some cup of tea. Stay with me friend.

Let’s savor these slices from the perfect word of God.

• -  God can keep me in perfect peace!
• -      What does it mean by, “… whose mind is stayed on Him?”
• -      Trust in God. How does this come about?

Part II continues but for now let me leave you with this hymn (yep, even Jesus sang hymns-Matthew 26:30)

Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging round?
On Jesus’ bosom naught but calm is found.

Peace, perfect peace, ’mid suffering’s sharpest throes?
The sympathy of Jesus breathes repose.

Peace, perfect peace, with loved ones far away?
In Jesus’ keeping we are safe, and they.

Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown?
Jesus we know, and He is on the throne.

Peace, perfect peace, death shad’wing us and ours?
Jesus has vanquished death and all its pow’rs.

Edward H. Bickersteth, Jr., 1875