Perfect Peace
"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." (Isaiah 26:3 - KJV)
The above scripture is an awesome promise! However, if we don't fully understand it we won't benefit from its promise. Many define "peace" as "the absence of violence." However, peace in the Bible is not necessarily this type of meaning.
There are many promises in the Bible which we are able to live by, but I have yet to find a scripture that promises an easy life. What we are promised is a life of victory and victory only comes through a battle.
In this scripture there are two identical Hebrew words that are used. The first time it is translated as "perfect" and the second time it is translated as "peace." The Hebrew word is Shalom. Shalom is a word that denotes wellness or wholeness. In fact one person who did a word study on this came up with the definition of Shalom to mean, "nothing missing - nothing broken." When a Hebrew person would greet someone they would say, "Shalom" which would be like an English speaking person expressing a desire that everything in your life is working and that you are experiencing no lack. We might say something like, "Bless you!"
In Ephesians 2:15 the Apostle Paul writes, "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace."
The great Apostle defines peace as unity or oneness with God. Another interesting word used in this scripture is the word "mind." This word, by definition, means "conception, thing framed, imagination." We could literally translate this scripture to say the following:
"God shall keep you, place a guard on you, to make sure nothing is missing or nothing is broken in your life if you will construct or frame your thinking on who He is."
The power of God's Word is not solely dependent upon God's power. As Ephesians 3:20 explains, "He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we are able to ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." What many miss is the last statement. We play a part in tapping into the power of God. Part of this is through the construction of thoughts and imaginations. That is why in Matthew 6, the Lord tells us not to "take" certain thoughts and why the Apostle Paul tells us to cast down thoughts and imaginations that are contrary to God's promises.
It is impossible to life in the victory that God has promised us if we have an attitude of defeat. It is impossible to possess all that God has given us if we view ourselves as unworthy. It is use that controls how much of the power of God we live in. God not only wants us to experience everything He has promised, He also receives pleasure when we take Him at His Word and live a life of victory!
