Isaiah 48:22 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”
Two weeks ago I finished reading, reflecting, and journaling on an English translation of a 2700-year-old text written by the Hebrew prophet, Isaiah. It took five months of early mornings to work my way through this complex book filled with stunning poetic turns of phrase. In addition to reading each chapter multiple times in my Bible, I listened to the Dwell app on repeat mode to immerse myself further. If you haven’t discovered it yet, I highly recommend Dwell for meditating on Scripture.
Yahweh’s messages through the prophet Isaiah are just as pertinent to our current times as they were to the original audience. A key theme is God seeking the attention of mankind, whether his covenant people or “the nations,” i.e., everyone else. God warns against ignoring him, going our own way, thinking ourselves self-sufficient, and putting faith and hope in our own wits and in idols we craft with our own skills. God calls the people who do these things “wicked.” The ruinous, self-inflicted outcomes are always the same, whether in the ancient world or modern America.
Indeed, there is no peace for the wicked. The more society rejects and forgets God, the more we see outbursts of wild rage, wanton destruction, public shaming, and fear-driven conformity. Consider this for a description of the rioters plaguing American cities: Isaiah 59:7-8 “Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways. The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks along them will know peace.” Some of us anesthetize ourselves with drugs (legal and otherwise) to camouflage our anxieties and dull our terrors. This is artificial peace, at the same time fleeting and pitifully inadequate. When it wears off, we are back to being easily offended, and tormented by anxiety.
How much better to live the way our Creator designed us to live, letting him fill us with peace as we trust him and follow his ways. Isaiah 26:12 “Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.” After nearly six decades on this earth, I can attest to the truth of this. Whenever I make decisions or react to a situation under my own power and by my own understanding without bringing it before God, I end up doing it wrong. I make myself, and often those around me, miserable. But – praise God – I am making this mistake far less than I used to. Whenever I seek God in prayer, follow in the ways he teaches in Scripture, and consult advisers who love and serve God, I find my wisdom grows. And, with it, I find peace.
I thought of this over the weekend while watching the film, A Hidden Life. At nearly three hours, the stream of consciousness style can be somewhat exhausting, but the story, based on real events during World War II, made me think about – and feel – the costs of standing up to evil, especially if you’re the only one and you risk the ultimate price for your courage. Even your courage can feel weak and confusing under the pressure of propaganda and attempts to shame you into submission. The unbreakable stance of the Austrian farmer, Franz Jägerstätter, grounded in his faith in Jesus Christ, cost him everything. Yet, as denoted by the film’s title, the Nazis could not touch the source of his life which was hidden from them. It was hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1-3 “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”
Father, bit by bit I face pressures to yield to the world around me. If I take a moral stand, advocate for the life of the unborn, and question godless dogmas, I risk being shunned, despised, or worse. Please keep me and all of your followers from giving in, from supporting people and causes that are wicked, and from remaining silent when we must speak.
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This week: Pause and think about what you may be supporting, explicitly or implicitly, by the slogans you adopt, the side you stand for, the people you’re trying to impress – or appease. Ask God to show you what you must change to follow in his ways, to live in his peace.
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