You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you. – Isaiah 26:3
5-4-23
The most common reasons people seek therapy are anxiety, depression, or stress. These thoughts and emotions are the product of a runaway mind. Your enemy the devil seeks to plant such thoughts in the minds of believers. They stir up a whirlwind of feelings and fears, robbing you of any peace. These strongholds can captivate the believer, and the resulting bondage can push people to self-medicate for relief.
In today’s verse, the prophet Isaiah says that, despite the events of the day— politics, the economy, disease, family issues—peace comes from a mind that is “stayed” on the Lord. What does that mean? The apostle Paul provides some keys in Romans: “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace“ (8:6), “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (12:2). Another important concept is found in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
When you center your mind on Christ, when you lean your thoughts and imagination on Him, when you regularly tell Him and yourself that you trust in Him, the tranquility of a “stayed mind” is the outcome. Magnifying the Lord shrinks those things into perspective that were causing stress, anxiety, and fear. As you pray for America’s governing officials today, ask that those who do not know Jesus Christ would accept Him and the peace that only He can bring, and then guide the nation in the knowledge and wisdom that only His peace brings.
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