14 day plan

Peace with God

Day 10 of 14

CSB

Isaiah 54:10

10Though the mountains move

and the hills shake,

my love will not be removed from you

and my covenant of peace will not be shaken,”

says your compassionate Lord.

Yearning for better and different is entirely ok – as long as we ground that yearning on a solid foundation of knowing where to place our hope and find our peace first and foremost.  And what about those of us who are anxious or even fearful about the future? Perhaps some of these thoughts will sound familiar to you:

What will happen if she or he leaves me?

Will I always be alone?  Will anybody ever love me?

What if I lose my health?  What if the cancer comes back?

What will I do if my business goes under?  What if that deal doesn’t come off? What if I lose my job?

What if my child lets me down?  What if they die?

What if I can’t fall pregnant?  What if I do fall pregnant?

What happens if my greatest fear comes to fruition?

Just as the Bible doesn’t say ‘If the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed….,’ there is a song that says: ‘Through it all, my eyes are on you.’  The capacity to keep our eyes on Jesus through it all, when the mountains shake, is so important, because they inevitably will at some point!   We need to look to him for our peace in the midst of our difficult circumstances. We need to trust in the hope he brings.  The song goes on to say, ‘Through it all, through it all it is well. And through it all, through it all my eyes are on you and it is well with me.’

Question: How can it be ‘well with me’ when circumstances are really difficult?  How do we keep our eyes on Jesus when we are anxious and frightened?

Prayer: Dear Jesus.  I confess that sometimes it’s a struggle for it to be ‘well with me’.  Yet you have promised that your love for me will not be shaken and that you will not remove your covenant of peace.  Help me to believe it and keep my eyes on you, I pray!

Isaiah 54:1-17

Future Glory for Israel

1“Rejoice, childless one, who did not give birth;

burst into song and shout,

you who have not been in labor!

For the children of the desolate one will be more

than the children of the married woman,”

says the Lord.

2“Enlarge the site of your tent,

and let your tent curtains be stretched out;

do not hold back;

lengthen your ropes,

and drive your pegs deep.

3For you will spread out to the right and to the left,

and your descendants will dispossess nations

and inhabit the desolate cities.

4“Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame;

don’t be humiliated, for you will not be disgraced.

For you will forget the shame of your youth,

and you will no longer remember

the disgrace of your widowhood.

5Indeed, your husband is your Maker —

his name is the Lord of Armies —

and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;

he is called the God of the whole earth.

6For the Lord has called you,

like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit,

a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,”

says your God.

7“I deserted you for a brief moment,

but I will take you back with abundant compassion.

8In a surge of anger

I hid my face from you for a moment,

but I will have compassion on you

with everlasting love,”

says the Lord your Redeemer.

9“For this is like the days of Noah to me:

when I swore that the water of Noah

would never flood the earth again,

so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you

or rebuke you.

10Though the mountains move

and the hills shake,

my love will not be removed from you

and my covenant of peace will not be shaken,”

says your compassionate Lord.

11“Poor Jerusalem, storm-tossed, and not comforted,

I will set your stones in black mortar,

and lay your foundations in lapis lazuli.

12I will make your fortifications out of rubies,

your gates out of sparkling stones,

and all your walls out of precious stones.

13Then all your children will be taught by the Lord,

their prosperity will be great,

14and you will be established

on a foundation of righteousness.

You will be far from oppression,

you will certainly not be afraid;

you will be far from terror,

it will certainly not come near you.

15If anyone attacks you,

it is not from me;

whoever attacks you

will fall before you.

16Look, I have created the craftsman

who blows on the charcoal fire

and produces a weapon suitable for its task;

and I have created the destroyer to cause havoc.

17No weapon formed against you will succeed,

and you will refute any accusation

raised against you in court.

This is the heritage of the Lord’s servants,

and their vindication is from me.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.