You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. –Isaiah 26:3
I love the spring of the year for a number of reasons: warmer temperatures, blue skies, longer days, and everything in bloom. I can’t get enough of spring. However, there is one aspect of spring which I am not crazy about, and that is the return of the insects. Oh yes, we have to tolerate them if we want all the goodness of the season, and I guess they are a small price to pay for all this great weather, but still they can be a nuisance. The other night I had stepped out onto the carport to let our dog, Ada, out for a little while. As I stood there I looked down and noticed that a large bug had landed on my shirt right up near my shoulder. It was one of those awful flying, water-bug, cockroach sort of things, and it was over an inch long.
Now, how many people would have immediately gone into a screaming and twirling fit of hysteria, beating frantically at the errant pest? Most of us, maybe? I don’t know how I did it, but somehow I remained completely calm. I looked down at this horrible creepy-crawly, and I calmly reached up and flicked it away. Ada stood happily watching this episode and if dogs could talk she might have commented on my cool handling of the situation. It was just an insect, right? No big deal, really.
Pondering this lead me to consider how wonderful it would be if I could always handle life’s problems in a similar fashion. Instead of getting all upset, falling apart, and going to pieces, I could remain calm and collected as I trusted in the Lord and relied upon the Holy Spirit to be my guide. The Scripture reminds us that when we trust in the Lord that He will keep us in perfect peace. Note the kind of peace the Lord offers: Perfect peace. This sort of peace lacks nothing, is steady as the storm is raging, and trusts God no matter what.
My prayer today for you, and for me, is that God would lead us to that perfect peace that is available to all through Christ Jesus. Christ can handle any problem that comes our way, from bugs on our shirts to pain in our hearts. He is able to bring us through in victory.
Do not fall apart and do not panic. Look to the Lord and trust Him today – in everything.
