by Pastor Rich Carlson

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast on you, because he trusts in You."    Isaiah 26:3

Peace is good; but perfect peace—now that is a phenomenal concept! And to think that I can be "kept" in that perfect peace is a promise that really gets my attention!

God does not make a promise that He does not keep, and there are just two conditions to the fulfillment of this one:

1.    Keep my mind steadfastly on Him

2.    Trust Him

Now that sounds basic and simple—well, at least basic. If I want peace, I must focus on Him. If I want perfect peace, I must trust Him. Of course the problem is that I am so easily distracted, and I seem to more easily trust things I can see. But then I do focus on Him and trust Him, and the result is peace. Then I wonder why I would ever focus anywhere else, or why I would trust anything except Him.

Focusing and trusting provides an inner peace of infinite value, but it cannot be vicariously experienced through me for you. We each must do our own focusing and our own trusting.

I pray that as you do, peace will increasingly flow into your life, and you will be encouraged to keep fine tuning those skills of trust until you have the perfect peace He promises.

Rich Carlson is campus chaplain at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. "God is Faithful" is adapted from the email devotionals he writes regularly for the Union College family. Rich enjoys filling his life with God, his family, and especially his five grandchildren.