3 You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
Isaiah 26:3 ESV
"Perfect peace." Not just peace, but perfect peace. To a professional worrier that is one of the sweetest promises in the Bible. Perfect peace. The Holy Grail. The .400 season. The Stanley Cup.
I am slowly inching my way toward slaying my worry monsters. I am losing less sleep. The kaleidoscope of butterflies in my gut is much smaller. But peace that is perfect. Not there yet.
As I was pondering this verse and finishing up my morning yogurt, a question inched its way into my mind. What is "perfect peace"? At first blush it would appear to be that it is a peace which is calm, relaxed, well. . . peaceful. But we see in scripture that Christ's life was not always emotionally peaceful. Yet is mind was always stayed on His Father.
Jesus turned over the tables in the temple. He wept when he arrived at the home of Lazarus after Lazarus had died. He prayed so passionately in the Garden of Gethsemane "his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Luke 22:44 ESV
Can a person be at peace and weep? Are peace and agonizing prayer compatible?
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