Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Thou will keep him in perfect peace

Originally, I was going to write on a different topic, but I changed my mind today. Although I'm not a preacher, I can relate to those servants of the Lord who have a tendency to mainly speak about things that personally concern them most at the moment.

I think nobody can claim that they have never been discouraged in life. After all, life is not always a bed of roses, and things may not always work out the way we would like them to. But how do we deal with those feelings?

Yes, I've found myself discouraged lately, and the main reasons were some situations at work that unsettled me. I thought "O Lord, why – why do I have to go through this? Why did I end up in this particular unit?" I don't want to go into details, but I believe I do have good reasons to be frustrated. However, should this take away my peace in any way?

Isaiah 26:3 says:

"Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."

So should we focus our minds on the circumstances? No, definitely not. We need to be anchored in the Lord, and staying my mind on Him means dwelling in His Word and believing His promises. This is the only way we can build real faith in Him.

In one of the talks of Dr. Nedley, he would sing a little song about feelings. Googling it up, I got the complete quote and I found out that it's actually by Martin Luther:

"Feelings come and feelings go,
And feelings are deceiving;
My warrant is the Word of God--
Naught else is worth believing.

Though all my heart should feel condemned
For want of some sweet token,
There is One greater than my heart
Whose Word cannot be broken.

I'll trust in God's unchanging Word
Till soul and body sever,
For, though all things shall pass away,
HIS WORD SHALL STAND FOREVER!"

How encouraging! I'm so thankful for God's unchanging Word, and that He is actually the one who is in control of our circumstances as well as our feelings. Whenever you feel dismayed, keep looking up, for the Lord is the One in charge!

This Friday, I'll be headed to Germany for a ten days vacation. Of course I look forward to this break and to spending time with family and friends. Maybe I can take some nice pictures there, provided the spring will be coming back by then!

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