Ruthlessly eliminate hurry. When two friends repeated that adage by the wise Dallas Willard to me, I knew I needed to consider it. Where was I spinning my wheels, wasting time and energy? More important, where was I rushing ahead and not looking to God for guidance and help? In the weeks and months that followed, I remembered those words and reoriented myself back to the Lord and His wisdom. I reminded myself to trust in Him, rather than leaning on my own ways.
After all, rushing around frantically seems to be the opposite of the perfect peace the prophet Isaiah speaks of. The Lord gives this gift to those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in Him (v. 3). And He is worthy of being trusted today, tomorrow, and forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal (v. 4). Trusting God with our minds fixed on Him is the antidote to a hurried life.
How about us? Do we sense that were hurried or even hasty? Maybe, in contrast, we often experience a sense of peace. Or perhaps were somewhere in between the two extremes.
Wherever we may be, I pray today that well be able to put aside any hurry as we trust the Lord, who will never fail us and who gives us His peace.
INSIGHT
The word peace in Isaiah 26:3 is one of the prophet Isaiahs favorite words; its used over twenty times in Isaiah. The word appears for the first time in Isaiah 9:6 where we find several titles for the promised Messiah, including Prince of Peace. Peace is a translation of the great Hebrew word shalom. While peace is certainly an acceptable rendering, more broadly shalom speaks of welfare, prosperity, wholenessthe comprehensive well-being of a person, people, or place. What isnt immediately apparent in modern versions of verse 3 is that the word translated perfect is also the Hebrew word shalom. Thus a literal rendering of perfect peace is shalom, shalom or peace, peace. Whats in view is multiplied peace, true peace, exponential peace. Verse 3 helps us to see that peace awaits those who trust in the Lord as their eternal source of strengththeir Rock (v. 4). Such peace allows one to exhale, to rest, to slow down.