"The Pillow of Peace"

  "The Pillow of Peace"   

   

    

     Certainty fills God's heart, mind, and being.  He knows who He is, what He is doing, what He will do, and the certainty of the outcomes He purposes.

    "I am the Lord… I the Lord have spoken it, it shall come to pass, and I will do it" (Isaiah 44:24; Ezekiel 24:14).

    Human beings, conversely, have a difficult time remembering who we are as defined by God.  Moreover, Scripture calls us to avoid any proud certainty regarding our doings. 

    "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass.  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was" (James 1:22-24). 

    "Go to now, ye that say, Today or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain, whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that" (James 4:13-15).

    As our days begin, two paths lie before us.  One glimmers with the light of assurance, confidence and tranquility of heart - "To be spiritually minded is life and peace".  The other casts a pall of uncertainty and darkness before us - "To be carnally minded is death" (Romans 8:6).  The former way beckons us to trust in God's certainty about Himself, even as we acknowledge the personal uncertainties that elicit our great need to commit our faith unto Another.  "Trust in the Lord with all thy heart… He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool" (Proverbs 3:5; 28:26).  Thus, we acknowledge our own weakness with joy rather than discomfort - "I take pleasure in infirmities" - because the recognition of our uncertainty becomes the springboard for faith in One rightly possessed of complete assurance in Himself.  I am the Lord… I will do… (II Corinthians 12:10).

    Terrified disciples should have taken comfort in the Lord Jesus Christ during a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee.  "He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow" (Mark 4:38).  Indeed, as long as their Master rested in peace, His followers could have reclined with Him on their own pillows.  As can we, if we embark upon the way of peace whereupon the Prince of peace rests in perfect assurance regarding Himself and His ability.  "Let us go pass over to the other side" He declared before the storm-tossed journey long ago (Mark 4:35).  Thus, no wind or wave could have capsized the ship in which the Savior and His disciples sailed.  And the Savior knew it.  He knows the same about us, and the voyage of this day in our lives.  "Let us pass over."  We will, and the only question is whether we will join our Lord on the pillow of peace, His peace, based upon His complete confidence in His ability to guide us safely in this day and forevermore…

"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."

(Isaiah 43:2)

Weekly Memory Verse

   For though He was crucified through weakness, yet He liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you.

(II Corinthians 13:4)