Isaiah 29:13-14 English Standard Version

¹³ And the Lord said: Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
¹⁴ therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

I wanted to say something and the words would not come. I wanted others to understand what I understand. The Lord had other plans and my thoughts no longer have any value. Things are hidden from me, just as His Word says.

What is the Lord saying to you? We bring you passages and expect the reader to get our message and that is vanity of vanities. What the Lord is saying to you in any passage is the only thing that matters.

To tell you what these passages mean to me only reveals my mind and not the Lords. I do not want to become one who cries out “Listen to me!” My time in the world will come to an end and my thoughts will perish along with me.

Matthew 24:35 English Standard Version (ESV) Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Those are His Words, not mine. The only lasting impression on us is what the Lord impresses on us.

This happened to me today because I set my mind on the world and my plans first. I allowed the Word of the Lord to take second place.

This is what happens when the Lord is not given first priority in our hearts. We begin to lose it.

Colossians 3:14-16 English Standard Version

¹⁴ And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

This week I lost the peace of God. Things were stacking up against me and I became overwhelmed. I turned to my trusted counselors who assured me that Christ was still on the throne and in charge of my life. Each had positive comments and collectively I began to trust again.

These verses speak directly into those impact moments when things around us begin to take position to block the peace of God. The first step is to stop and drop everything as soon as we feel that loss of peace. What exactly happens to us when we lose peace? Our view of the problem takes first place and the solution is driven to the back of our minds.

In some situations we hate what is happening more than we love Christ. That sounds impossible but it is a momentary focus, a distraction, and living in this world it is easy to feel the danger instantly and perhaps for good reason. I do not fear dying because I know where I am going. I just do not want to die in agonizing pain. That is not uncommon, it is human.

I don’t know how many times I have said “I hate being human.” It is not that I hate my life, I just don’t like the feelings that can come with living this life. We worry about things beyond our control so we pray. We want things to change, so we pray.

If we allow Christ to rule from the throne of our hearts, then peace will come to us.