The Antidote for Anxiety and Depression: Trust in Abba Father’s Care – Pt 9
God Preserves in Perfect Peace the One Whose Mind is Continually Fixed on Him and Who Trust in Him!
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
– Isaiah 26:3
I can recall many times in my life when my mind was stayed on, and I trusted in everything else except God. Those were the times when I was tormented by fear, anxiety, depression and a host of other disturbing emotions. I can also remember the times when my mind was stayed on, and I trusted in God. The effect was God kept me in His perfect peace. Can you share the same sentiments as I?
We are living in an era when trouble is all around us and as a result humanity is unsettled. There are wars, natural disasters, illness, poverty, crimes, just to name a few. If your mind is bombarded by the cares of live then you are sure to experience distress. However, if you would fix you mind on and trust in God, He will keep you in His perfect peace.
The Gospel accounts of the healing of the woman with an issue of blood by Jesus recorded in Matthew 9:20–22, Mark 5:25–34, Luke 8:43–48 immediately came to my mind when I thought of a situation in the Bible in which someone had such peace of mind in the midst of a distressing circumstance.
This woman had experienced bleeding for twelve years and suffered a great deal under the care of several doctors, therefore, she had spent all she had. However, she did not get better, instead her condition grew worst. When this woman heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched the hem of His tallit because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Instantly her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was delivered from her suffering.
Jesus realized that power went out form Him so He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” His disciples thought it was obvious for Jesus to be touched because of the crowd that was around Him so they answered Him saying, “You see the people crowding against you, and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” Nevertheless, Jesus knew exactly what had happened, He knew that it was not just an ordinary touch by the crowd so He continued to look around to see who had touched Him. The woman then came and fell at Jesus’s feet, trembling with fear, and told Him what she experienced because she knew what had happened to her when she touched Him. Then Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
Friends, after spending all her money going to doctors and got no cure for continuous bleeding for twelve years, this woman could have been so worried and depressed, and refused to come out of her house. But I believe that when she heard about Jesus, her mind must have been fixed on Him and her trust in Him emerged. Hence, she was kept in God’s perfect peace, and that this peace ignited her faith, therefore, instead her faith propelled her to pursue Him.
Why else would this woman who was considered “unclean” by the laws of the land, and who was banished from being in public, risk going out in a crowd where Jesus was just to “but touch the hem of His tallit”, if she wasn’t kept in God’s perfect peace? I believe that the more she heard about Jesus and all the good that He was doing, the more she fixed her mind on and trusted in Him. That’s what faith is – putting one’s trust in God and keeping it there. Jesus told her, Daughter, your faith has made you whole”. In other words, her trust in Jesus healed her.
Isaiah declares in Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
God will preserve you in perfect peace if your minds are continually fixed on and you trust in Him. In other words, once you fix your mind on and trust (place your hope in Him and keep your hope there; have faith in Him; believe every word that He has spoken concerning your life and that His promises are yes and amen; have confidence in His ability and willingness to take care of you; and know without a shadow of a doubt that He loves you unconditionally and that there isn’t anything that can separate you from His love) in God, He will let His peace faithfully guard and control your hearts’ door and monitor everything that enters and leaves your hearts, while you experience wholeness, tranquillity in your soul, and rest, as well as have the ability to think straight even in the midst of chaos. It therefore means that there is nothing the enemy can penetrate your hearts and minds with unless God allows it.
You may be subjected to some sort of distressing situation and stricken with emotions of fear, worry and depression. Maybe, like the woman with an issue of blood mentioned above, you have been in this situation for a lone time, maybe many years. It may seem hopeless. Nevertheless, I would like you to know that there is peace for your soul today and every day of your lives for that matter.
God wants to keep you in His perfect peace friends. Would you fix your minds on and trust in Him?
Shalom!
MY PRAYER FOR TODAY
Heavenly Father I worship You just for who You are – You are my Peace. I thank You today for Your keeping power in my life which protects my heart and mind. I declare that I am preserved by God in His perfect peace always as I continually fix my mind on and trust in Him. I pray this by faith in Jesus’ name. Amen!
