Steadfast Imagination

Isaiah 26:3 (ESV)
³  You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. 


Today I praise God that He guards, protects, and preserves His children. Some might quickly argue that God does not always protect. They will cite 9-11 or the Boston Marathon bombing or some other tragic event. They will point out that people who loved and trusted God died or were seriously injured in those events.

I too could make such an argument. My sister drowned. My grandfather died of leukemia. My mother died of a heart attack. My wife suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. My two youngest sons tore knee ligaments requiring surgeries even after Brenda and I bathed them in prayer for GOd's protection repeatedly.

You and I only see part of the story. We do not see the end when God continues to guard, protect, and preserve our souls from wrath and hell after life. In the end that is far more important than the temporary life we experience down here. He does keep. He does guard. He does protect and preserve all the way through eternity for the blood bought redeemed children of God.

He keeps His own in perfect peace. Or to put it another way, He keeps them in welfare. I am not talking about the governmental assistance program. I am talking about the wellness Horatio Spafford wrote in his famous hymn It Is Well With My Soul. This is a welfare far superior than anything the government can offer.

We are taking about deep matters of the heart. Like the email I received from a widow this week. She misses her husband who died years ago,  but she is well. She is strengthened day by day. She is protected in the lonely night watches. She is comforted all hours of the day and night when the tears unexpectedly start flowing again. It is well with her soul.

There is a wellness this world knows nothing about as they look to temporary things to comfort. There is a wellness that goes deep in the soul. The heart may still grieve. Questions may still linger but, like Spafford, the people of God can still sing, "It is well with my soul."

To maintain this wellness we have to win the battle in our minds. Better I should say we need God to win the battles in our mind. The word mind in this verse means "imagination." Has your mind ever raced off into fear, anxiety, and doubt? Have you ever dwelled on the most horrible scenarios playing out in your future. The imagination can lead to wonderful creativity and calm assurance in the middle of adversity when Bible truth is pondered. When the mind dwells on trouble it can lead to raw terror.

Where is your mind today? What things do you imagine? Are looking forward to a brighter future or consumed with thoughts of crisis? Our worry will not change the end outcome.

When our imagination remains steadfast in trust, or confidence and security, we can live in that perfect peace. Should the IRS call you can still have peace if you place your confidence in God. If you get diagnosed with a terrible disease you can still find security in God. If your spouse up and decides to leave you there is still perfect peace available.

We live in a world where people try anything and everything to cope with the problems. It is much simpler to turn those troubles over to God and keep our imaginations immersed in scripture. This is the key to living a stress free life. A life of perfect peace in the good times as well as the bad ones.

I don't know about you but I prefer the life of perfect peace over a life of stress and hysteria. I prefer the tranquility of imagination steadfastly fixed on God and His word than the rampant mental rumblings leading to sleepless nights and ulcers.

Whatever you are up against God can handle it. Turn it over to Him. Leave it with Him. Let Him do the heavy lifting while you do the work of trusting and keeping your mind steadfastly focused.