| The Christian Life | July 1941 |
Kept in Perfect Peace
Is your faith in God’s love and care strong enough to keep your heart at rest despite the turmoil with which you may be surrounded? Such should be the happy lot of all those who are fully consecrated to the Lord. This article gives some of the reasons why.
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.”—Isaiah 26:3
NO BETTER formula for Christian peace and rest of heart and mind has ever been written than that set forth so clearly in our text. No matter how much may be said on the subject, we are bound to come back to this simple statement of fact, namely, that those who are kept in “perfect peace” are those who put their trust fully in the Lord. The next verse supplements the formula by giving us the “reason why,” saying, “Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.” From this we see that the secret of “perfect peace” is our confidence that the One in whom we trust has the ability to fulfill all His good promises toward us. Our peace, then, is in proportion to our faith in this reassuring fact.
Jesus had full confidence in His Father’s ability and willingness to care for Him, and because of this He had “perfect peace.” When on the storm-tossed sea of Galilee He confidently slept, while His disciples, by contrast—through lack of faith—were filled with fear. Arousing the Master they cried, “Save us, or we perish.” Jesus chided them saying, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt.” He commanded the storm-tossed sea to be still; the Heavenly Father honored His request, and there was calm. But there was calm in the Master’s heart even while the waves were tossing high around them.
In this experience of Jesus and the disciples we have an illustration of what is involved in our faith-life of trust in the Heavenly Father’s care. By it we are reminded that storms should be expected, but that it is possible, upon the basis of faith, to enjoy peace and rest even while the storms are raging. But it will require more than the “little faith” mentioned by the Master if we are to enjoy His peace before the storms subside. Yes, we will need to have that
“… faith that will not shrink,
Though pressed by every foe;
That will not tremble on the brink
Of any earthly woe.”
After the Master had stilled the storm-tossed waves, the disciples with the “little faith” had peace. This is too often the experience of consecrated Christians today. When our experiences are of the pleasant sort it isn’t so difficult to believe in the Lord’s care for us; but when the trials come we are fearful, and our hearts cry out, “Lord, save us, or we perish.” And the Lord, mindful of our weaknesses, tempers the storm, so that we are not tested above that which we are able to bear.
But as we continue on in His loving care our faith should grow. The Lord may at times still the storms for us, but He is pleased if out of each trial we emerge with a faith made a little stronger, so that eventually we can enjoy “perfect peace” without the necessity for a “way of escape” being provided. In order thus for our faith to grow strong it is important that we keep close watch of the Lord’s dealings with us, and take cognizance of the many and varied ways in which He helps us through our trials, converting them into blessings by the magic of His infinite care. Yes, the better we become experimentally acquainted with the Lord the more fully we will realize that behind what seems to be a “frowning providence, He hides a smiling face.”
FULL SUBMISSION A NECESSITY
While mountain-moving faith and confidence in God’s ability to care for His own is indispensable to the blessedness of “perfect peace,” yet other factors also are involved; among them the necessity of our wills being fully surrendered to the Lord. God’s will must reign supreme in our hearts in order for peace to abide there. To whatever extent we set up our own wills in opposition to the divine will, in that same proportion we will lack that peace and rest of heart which is our right, as Christians, to enjoy.
Indeed, it is very often because we want our “own way” that we fail to see the Lord’s hand in the experiences which He permits to come into our lives. We may be so sure that our way is the best that we conclude the Lord has forsaken us simply because He does not bless us in it. It is folly to measure the Lord’s care over us by the extent to which He permits us to carry through plans and ideas of our own making. This is apparent when we remember that His wisdom has decreed that trials are a valuable asset to Christian growth, yet the ways we map out for ourselves usually bypass the trials which we need.
It may also be that we are willing for the Lord to permit trials, but are unable to trust Him in them unless they reach us in ways that to us seem reasonable and wise. In other words, we may be quite willing and able to say, “Gladly will I toil and suffer,” if we are permitted to choose the kind of toil, and the channels through which the suffering comes. We may be able to submit to trials which come to us from one source, but if they come in some other way we conclude that they are from the devil, hence strike out against the agencies by which they reach us, and consequently find ourselves embroiled in controversy, with our peace destroyed.
But if through faith and a fully-surrendered will we accept whatever comes to us as that which the Lord sees is truly the best, irrespective of the source, then, and then only, can we have “perfect peace.” The storms and trials of the Christian life are tests of our faith in God’s care because they are not pleasant to our flesh, nor to our fleshly mind. These may be in the form of physical sickness, involving bodily pain; persecution from the world or the worldly minded; trials among the brethren in which we may be ignored, or set aside; or along other lines. The new creature, intent upon sacrificing the flesh and its interests, and seeking only to know and do God’s will, will be tested by these experiences in that the flesh will rise up against them and seek to destroy the confidence of the new creature in the assurance that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and who are called according to His purpose.
“CHOOSE THOU MY WAY FOR ME”
If the trial through which we are passing is sickness, the flesh will probably reason that this cannot be anything the Lord would permit, for He would surely want us to be well and healthy and thus be able to use time and strength in His service. This cunning “reasoning” on the part of the flesh might well weaken our confidence in the Heavenly Father’s care over us, were we not strengthened with the knowledge that while the Lord is pleased to have us work for Him, yet divine wisdom may see that for a time we need lessons which can come only by being “laid on the shelf.” The Lord does not need us in the service, but we need the service in order that through it we may ourselves be prepared for the Kingdom.
It may be, however, that there are certain lessons we need to learn which can be learned best by our being deprived temporarily of the privilege of active service in the Lord’s vineyard. If so, the Lord would know of this need and deal with us accordingly. We may not know of the need, and if our faith is weak we may find ourselves resenting the apparent cause of our trials; overlooking the fact that our Heavenly Father would not permit them unless His wisdom saw they were for our highest spiritual good.
To enjoy the “perfect peace” which by faith is the present heritage of new creatures in Christ Jesus, we cannot differentiate between our experiences, deciding that some are permitted of the Lord and some are not. No matter what our joys and our trials may be, nor what peculiar shape they take, the Lord knows about them and can change them at His will. Faith in this fact is fundamental to “perfect peace.” Either the Lord is caring for us all the time, or He isn’t caring for us at all. He doesn’t permit Satan to interfere with His care over His people. He neither permits our friends by their kindness, nor our enemies by their wrath, to introduce into their lives anything at all but what will work for our eternal blessing and His own glory.
GOD’S MIGHTY POWER
It may not be difficult to believe that God has the power to care for us if He will. The real test of our faith is to have confidence that the infinite power of the Almighty God is actually enlisted on our behalf. Perfect peace belongs to those, as our text says, who put their trust in the Lord. A rope may be thrown to a drowning man but if he doesn’t put out his hand to grasp it, he is not saved. So in the turbulent sea of life’s experiences, the Christian is surrounded by divine agencies for his care and protection, but unless faith lays hold upon them they are of no avail to give him peace.
But through His Word the Lord has given us many assurances that He does care, and that His “mighty power” is used on behalf of the fully consecrated. The Apostle Paul, for example, reminds us of this, saying, “And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenlies, far above all principality, and power and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.”—Eph. 1:19-23
Here is a description of power that is indeed “mighty.” Man, having learned how to harness some of the forces of nature, is able to display a great deal of power along certain lines. The power of the wind and electrical storms is great; but in the resurrection of Jesus, and His exaltation to the divine nature, high above all other authority and power, we have an exhibition of divine ability that is utterly beyond human comprehension.
The secret power of life itself is beyond our understanding. We may plant seed in our gardens, but only God can make it grow. All life, animate and inanimate, displays the wisdom and power of God. But, the resurrection of Jesus to the divine nature was quite beyond anything that God had ever done before. It was not only restoring life, but also an exaltation to the very highest form of life, even to the Heavenly Father’s own divine nature. What “might power”! Even if we could understand it, words are wholly inadequate to describe it.
And Paul says that this power is operative to “us-ward”; that is, it is being used on our behalf, to guarantee our safety, our victory, our exaltation. However, this mighty power is not used on our behalf unconditionally. It is for those only who “believe”—“to us-ward who believe,” is the way the apostle puts it. It is our faith that taps this reservoir of divine strength, making us conscious of the Father’s care. In this consciousness we have peace, because our minds are stayed on Him.
UNDER HIS WINGS
In Psalms 91:1-4 we are given a wondrous assurance of the protection afforded by the “Almighty.” To help us grasp the full significance of what this protection means to us as new creatures, various illustrations are used. All of these illustrations suggest the thought of the imminent danger with which we are always surrounded, but assure us that God is able to care for us in them all.
“He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust.” Here we have the illustration of a mother hen’s care for her chickens. Most of us, no doubt, are familiar with the background of this illustration. There are certain birds of prey, such as chicken hawks, which swoop down upon a brood of young chickens, seizing one or more of them in their talons and carrying them away. This constitutes a real danger in the chicken world, and the alertness of the mother hen, and the shelter she affords under her wings, is the main protection for the chickens.
What a meaningful illustration of the Heavenly Father’s care over His people! First there is the alertness of the mother hen. She observes the danger flying overhead, and sounds a warning, which at the same time is a call to her brood to hurry for protection under her wings. This is what God does for us. He warns us of danger. The basis for all such warnings is in His word, and He may use one or another of various agencies to “sound” the warning. But the warnings themselves will not protect us unless we give heed to them and seek the shelter the Lord provides. If we resent the fact of being warned, and ask that only pleasant things be told us, we will have no right to claim the divine promises of grace to help in every time of need.
Then there is the possibility of being too far away to hear the warning. This is a real danger for the chicks. If one or more of them has strayed away from the mother and from the rest of the brood so that it does not hear the cluck, cluck; or the warning when the danger appears overhead, it is almost certain to lose its life. How important then, for us, to keep close to the Lord, and associated with His people, in order that all the provisions of His grace may be continually available for us.
We may think of the two wings as representing the Old and New Testaments, and of the feathers as the thousands of individual promises, instructions, warnings, admonitions, etc., which the Lord his given us in His Word. We should remember that it is as new creatures that the Lord is caring for us. He has not promised to protect us from physical harm, except as our flesh and its experiences may have a bearing upon the purpose the Lord is working out for us as new creatures. Otherwise, we must expect to go through the general round of experiences that is common to man.
It is in the spiritual life, that the Lord’s care is specially manifested. He protects our minds and hearts, not by physical power, but by the power of His Word. He upholds us by His councils. He tells us the way in which we should walk, and walking in that way we are safe. He warns us of lurking dangers, and by heeding His warnings and moving away from the danger, we are rescued. But, if perfect peace is to be ours, we must use the provisions the Lord has made for our protection.
The chickens would certainly have no basis for calmness simply by remaining away from the mother hen, and wishfully longing to be under the protection of her wings. But when they heed the warning, and flee for safety under her wings, then, from that vantage point of safety they can peek out upon the outside world with full assurance that no harm can reach them. So it should be with us as Christians. Perfect peace should be ours, can be ours, if we keep close to the Lord, and really put our trusts in Him by using the provisions He has made for our safety.
HIS TRUTH A SHIELD AND BUCKLER
In the latter part of Psalms 91:4, and associated directly with the mother-hen illustration of divine care and protection, the prophet tells us that the Lord’s truth shall be our shield and buckler. Here the ancient method of protecting soldiers in battle is used to illustrate God’s protection of the consecrated soldiers of the cross. We are told that it is by means of the truth that divine protection is made effective—the truth of God’s Word. This means that we must make proper use of the truth if we are to realize fully God’s care over us. It is only thus than we can have “perfect peace.” In this way we are again reminded that while God’s power is always available for the protection of His people, yet if we are to experience the full rest of heart and mind which is our right as Christians, we must lay hold upon the provision the Lord has made, and use it faithfully and obediently.
That God’s truth is our shield and buckler is further emphasized in Psalms 19:7-14, and suggestions made showing how it serves to protect us from harm. David says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting [margin, restoring] the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” How much we all need the “wisdom which is from above” in order that we may walk in the right way. Lacking this wisdom we are sure to stumble into various pitfalls and snares set for us by the adversary.
“The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.” A blind person is always in danger unless accompanied by a guide, but the Lord enlightens our spiritual eyes with the instructions of His Word and this enables us to see where we are going, hence we can travel with safety. Knowing this, we have peace and confidence. But if we go contrary to the Lord’s commands, we do not have peace. For example, if we speak or think evil of a brother, contrary to the Lord’s instructions, we are almost sure to find ourselves in a spiritual turmoil. God does not protect us in wrong doing.
“The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is Thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me from secret faults. Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me; then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”—Psa. 19:13,14
“WHOSE MIND IS STAYED ON THEE”
This, then is the secret of perfect peace, that is, keeping our hearts and minds stayed on the Lord and being wholly obedient to His Word. There is no question about the Lord’s ability to care for us, but that care is exercised along certain definite lines, hence to be assured of it we must co-operate with the Lord. God does not change His plans in order to suit our ways of doing things; we must conform our ways to Him, if we want His love shed abroad in our hearts and His protecting care spread over us. If we thus do bend our wills to His, we can have peace and rest of heart.
“Great peace have they that love Thy laws and nothing shall offend them,” is the way the prophet states the matter. (Psa. 119:165) If we do not love God’s law sufficiently to wholeheartedly obey it, it follows that we cannot expect to have, “great peace.” The Hebrew word translated “offend” the text just quoted has more the thought of “stumble.” On account of human frailties we may be temporarily irritated by circumstances with which we are surrounded, but if we truly love God’s law, we will have our peace and rest of heart quickly restored so that no matter what the Lord’s wisdom sees best for us, we will not be stumbled, nor turned aside from the narrow way of truth and righteousness.
Our trust in the Lord, and our obedience to His will, should be so complete, that we will enjoy peace of heart under all circumstances. Sometimes we may be able to trust the Lord for ourselves, but not for others, and in this way, find that our peace is disturbed. That is to say, we may see others going through severe trials, and in our sympathy for them, overlook the fact that God is as able to care for them as He is for us. Failing to trust the Lord on behalf of fellow travelers in the narrow way sometimes leads to doing rash, unscriptural things in order to shield them from trials. This course almost always results in a disturbing of our own rest of heart, and does not benefit those whom we try to help.
There are Scriptural ways to encourage and comfort the brethren, and great joy results from every sacrifice we make along these proper lines. But let us endeavor in all of our activities to keep within the instructions outlined by the Word. Let us bring our own lives more and more into conformity with the truth, and encourage others to do the same. Let us keep our minds stayed on the Lord, and He will keep His love and care stayed on us, so that “perfect peace” will be our daily, blessed portion.