It was our bi-weekly Wednesday night Bible study the day after the 2020 presidential election. Naturally, the conversation turned to the election results which were, of course, still being tallied. But it was looking grim for our candidate – the man that we thought would be best to lead our country over the next four years. We were all speculating on what would happen to our country if the other candidate won. There was concern about the kind of nation we would leave to our children and grandchildren. We were undoubtedly anxious.
We ended our session with prayer and someone asked for God to give us peace.
Peace
We haven’t seen a lot of that in 2020. With Covid-19 ravaging the nation causing much sickness, numerous deaths and widespread fear, as well as prompting shutdowns, cancelled events, mandatory. business closures, illegal church services and an incident of police brutality leading to riots, chaos, attacks on police, violence and burning cities, peace has been in short supply to say the least.
How can we possibly have peace in our hearts with so much going on, especially now with the uncertainty of what a new administration might bring.
Then I was immediately reminded of this verse.
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trust in you. Isaiah 26:3
What a beautiful promise this is for us. We can’t control everything in our world, in fact we can’t control most things, but we can choose to dwell on the Lord and if we do, he promises to bring us peace.
What can we control?
We can control our thoughts and choose to lean into Jesus, thanking him for all the goodness and blessings in our life. This will bring peace and contentment to our soul.
We can read his word to learn his ways and the promises it holds for those who love him. This will bring peace and encouragement to us.
We can fellowship with other believers in order to help each other stay focused on God during tough times. This will bring us joy and peace to each other.
And we can attend church and worship even though we may have to do it virtually for now. Worshiping God and hearing the Word of God motivates us to become more devoted to him which ultimately brings us peace.
All these things will help us keep our mind on the Lord.
Even if we get through this 2020 crisis unscathed, more turbulent times are coming. But God’s promises still hold true. He will never leave us or forsake us. (Joshua 1:5) and that’s a good verse to dwell on for sure.
Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Duking Out Life 