High-Minded Love II

Isaiah 26:1-4

I love this victory hymn from Isaiah. Interestingly, it is like the hymns in the end part of our hymnal, one that anticipates a victory that hasn't happened yet. One of my professors taught us that one's eschatology (the study of "last things") is the key to understanding one's theology (the study of God). Do we have hope for the future and if so, why? Isaiah cries out with confidence that God is going to come through for Judah. The same confidence is found in the book of Revelation, for despite all the arguments over it, the main messages of it are clear: 1) In the hell of our world, God is doing a heavenly work (eight major glimpses of heaven to give hope to the seven struggling churches), and 2) God wins in the end. With those two things in mind, we have reason to be hopeful and confident. Our confidence in the future is not just wishful thinking. Isaiah's words are hopeful because God has been faithful all along. We say that we don't know what the future holds - a half truth. We don't know all the details of how our lives are going to be lived out and where the wins and losses along the way will be. But we do know what the ultimate end is - God wins and because he wins, so do we.

Verses 3 and 4 speak a powerful word to our anxiety-driven lives as individuals, as the church, and as a society.

"You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you. Trust in the LORD forever, for in the LORD God you have an everlasting rock."

I am often asked how we can know that God is guiding us or speaking to us. One of the clues for me is "Follow the peace." Where there is chronic anxiety and paralyzing fear, we have not yet allowed God to fully enter the picture, nor have we heard God fully. The peace I describe here is not absence of challenge or concern, but rather is a sense of God's presence that gives you restful confidence, sometimes in the most trying and conflicted situations. I think this is what Jesus was talking about in John 14 when he said, "My peace I give to you, not like the peace the world gives." How is your mindset today: anxious and driven, or peaceful and led by the Spirit of God. Is your focus on the problems you're facing or on the LORD who gives the strength and the wisdom to overcome them. May your mind be "stayed on Him" today.

Philippians 1:12-26

Paul is more descriptive of his prison situation. It has been tough and he still fears for his life, but he already sees the hand of God at work. He was imprisoned so that the spread of the gospel of Christ would be stopped, but instead his imprisonment has made the leaders around him more bold and the gospel is spreading faster than ever. He feels the helplessness of being away from the churches when some threatening and strange things are going on. He even rejoices in those who preach the gospel with wrong motivations or even wrong content. I must admit there is a lot of stuff taught in the name of Christ that makes me sick (egs. "the prosperity gospel," "might makes right," "revelation sensation" misinterpretations in both fiction and non-fiction, manipulative preachers), but God still uses them and people are saved through those approaches. Like Paul, I have to relax that God gets it done, even with bad motivations and content, which, I guess, means that God can use me when attitudes and content goes awry, too.

I love verse 21, "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Either way, he is a winner. What's the old adage, "The one to fear most is the one with nothing to lose?" In this case, it is not desperation but hope that gives us nothing to lose. Notice the joy and confidence in Paul's writing. Either he is doing a good self-psych job or he really does believe in the power of the LORD. Which do you think is the case?

As you can see, Isaiah and Paul, are on common ground. Both are in difficult, even life-threatening situations, yet they are at peace within and joyously confident about what lies ahead. Bottom line is this: Our contentment, confidence and joy in life is not situation-dependent, but rather relationship-dependent. That's the gift of God that comes our way when we "love the LORD our God with all our mind." Have a peaceful and victorious day.