The Plumbline

God, you give true peace to people who depend on you, to those who trust in you. (Isaiah 26:3) We might not realize it, but God's desire is for us to walk in true peace, not the temporary peace of the world that we sometimes refer to as 'happiness'. Happiness is situational - God's true peace is there all the time - even in the roughest of times. The world offers us 'sanctuary peace' - get away, relax, take your mind off the issues at hand, and restore. God offers 'true peace' - in the midst of the chaos, with pressures mounting, his peace permeates the crevices of our heart, mind, and emotions. There is a condition to true peace, though. It is that we move from a place of 'self-dependence' (doing things our way, in our timing, with whatever effort we can exert) into a place of dependence upon him. What does this dependence look like? If we are looking only at what we can see on the surface, there might be evidence of 'emotional balance'...

There will be wars and rumors of wars. The earth will shake and the waters tremble. The mountains will spew lava and the earth's crust will split apart. These are painful reminders of our sinfulness - of our absence of God's presence in our midst. The one thing we can count on in the midst of all the 'bad stuff' that seems to happen around us is that God is our safe place and our strength. He isn't just a place to hide, but he is a means to stand strong in the midst of what seems to otherwise shake our world. The more we study he faithfulness of God, the more we see he has always kept a watchful eye on those who call upon his name. We should never forget that 'bad stuff' will happen, but we don't have to be afraid of the 'bad stuff' around us. We are safe in his hands - his presence makes a way for us to feel secure and protected. God is our safe place and our strength. He is always our help when we are in trouble. So we will not be afraid, even ...