Church devotions: Peace Like a River - Isaiah 48:18

Isaiah 48:18    If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea. 

I love singing the old spirituals that the African slaves once composed. In spite of the suffering, inhumanity, and injustice that they experienced, they had a deeper faith in God than most of the people of their times. They knew what it felt to be humiliated and oppressed, harshly treated and cruelly kept. Despite those terrible and terrifying experiences, they held on to a truer relationship with God that many of us today will never know.

Today’s verse reminded me of the spiritual “I’ve Got Peace like a River.” It’s a simple song which expresses a simple steadfast faith in God. Both the song and the Bible verse were written during times of oppression for both the Jewish people in Babylon and the African slaves in America. They depict an absolute trust and complete assurance in God to rescue and deliver both communities. In both circumstances, freedom comes through an inner faith which cannot be destroyed by the whip or wickedness. God’s people are liberated by His enduring love. Both races are rescued by their Redeemer.

Sometimes I wonder if our faith would be able to survive similar circumstances. We are blessed with many freedoms, wonderful opportunities, and great advantages compared to those two historical communities. Is our faith real or only convenient? Could we endure persecution and pain, injustice and calamity?

I hope that we will never be tried or troubled in those ways, but I also fervently hope that if ever we do, we will dearly hold on to God and find that inward pervasive peace that does indeed flow like a river.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, we have been greatly blessed by God throughout our days. Our faith is rarely tested and our beliefs are hardly ever beleaguered by injustice or inhumanity. We are fortunate to live in a place and at a time when we feel safe and secure. Help us to use these blessings to support other people in need, as well as other Christians in distress. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask a question about today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest winter drawings. It’s called “Amid the Winter Snow” and features the Cades Cove Church, in the heart of the Smoky Mountains, covered under a blanket of snow and glistening in the light of a winter moon. If you would like to see a larger version of this drawing, please click on the following link: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7005/6828228349_28319f48f3_b.jpg