What is PERFECT Peace?
A couple of weeks ago, I awoke with the words “perfect peace” going on in my mind. I’m always quoting Isaiah 26:3 “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” I don’t think I’ve ever thought about PERFECT peace before. What is PERFECT peace?
I did a little word study and this is what I found. When that Isaiah 26:3 promise was given, Israel was in a dark period of her history. Now, it helps us during this time when we are surrounded by gloom, doubt, fear and worry. When all is going well, it’s easy to read a promise like this in a very superficial way, but when clouds of trial, disappointment, anxiety and alarm blow across our skies and the sun is hidden, these words become very precious to us.
There’s not a promise in the Bible that says we will be free from troubles, but God promises something better. He promises peace in the midst of the storm. In the fiercest of battles, while the storm is at it’s height, the trusting soul can know inward peace and tranquility. There can be a deep down calm and quiet confidence. PERFECT peace is a condition of freedom from disturbance within the soul. The Hebrew word for peace, “Shalom,” has the idea of soundness of health. Being filled with spiritual peace is to be spiritually healthy and free from all discord in the soul. There is no room for jealousy, envy, discontentment, uncontrolled temper, selfishness, pride, intolerance, harsh criticism, fear of anxiety, in the soul that is filled with peace.
My photo inspiration, today, gives visual to this PERFECT peace, and so does the story that accompanies it.
There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked. One was of a calm lake. It was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace. The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This picture did not look peaceful at all. But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush, a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest … PERFECT peace. Which picture do you think won the prize?
The King chose the second picture. Do you know why? “Because,” explained the King, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27
“I have told you all this so that you may have ‘peace’ in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
Enough said. I wish you this PERFECT PEACE today!