Is. 26:3 – You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Let’s face it, the world is filled with trouble. People are filled with trouble, and if we aren’t careful, their troubles will swallow us up. It is a promise but a tricky endeavor to be in the world but not of it. Have you found the key to that kind of life? It boils down to this, you have to be filled with a supernatural peace to be unaffected by the world. How do you get there? That’s the tricky part, the Bible says to labor, even strive, to enter that rest. Here is how A.B. Simpson describes it.
“In the old creation, the week began with work and ended with Sabbath rest. The resurrection week begins with the first day-first rest, then labor. So we must first cease from our own works as God did from His, and enter into His rest. And then, with rested hearts, we will work His works with effectual power. But why labor to enter into rest? See that sailing craft-how restfully it glides over the waters, its canvas swelling with the wind and borne without an effort! And yet, look at that man at the helm. See how firmly he holds the rudder, bearing against the wind, and holding her steady to her position. Let him for a moment relax his steady hold and the vessel will fall listlessly along the wind. The sails will flap, the waves will toss the craft at their will, and all rest and power will have gone. It is the fixed helm that brings the steadying power of the wind. The steady will and stayed heart are ours. The keeping is the Lord’s. So let us labor to enter and abide in His rest.”
So maybe, even probably, you are facing some kind of stormy seas in your life. The Master is at the helm, we can rest in His care. How can I be sure? That is where the laboring part comes in. We have to press in to the peace of God. Seek Him in the Bible, seek Him in worship and prayer. Draw near to Him and allow His peace to become yours. Before you know it the tension in the world will be all around you but not in you, then you know you have begun to enter the rest of God.