Peace, Peace

From our reading this morning in Isaiah 57...


:2 "Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death."

:10 "[But you wicked people], you were wearied by all your ways, but you would not say, 'It is hopeless.' You found renewal of your strength and so you did not faint."

:11 "Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me...?"

:12 "I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you."

:17 "I was enraged by his sinful greed; I punished him, and hid my face in anger, yet he kept on in his willful ways."


If we are looking for true rest and peace, it will not be found in anything on earth. True peace comes from walking uprightly--and, even then, we may only find real rest in death! Life on earth is not promised to be perfect or smooth sailing. Things won't go perfectly our way, but God has His reasons--and, in the middle of it all, He promises rest.

I want to share with you the warning I found in verse 10 though...when we see our wicked ways, and we get tired of them, it is not enough. These wicked people found strength that they didn't know they had and continued on in their muck. God calls us to get out of the muck!! He calls us to live for Him. Have you confessed 80% of sin? Someone recently told me that they had confessed a sin in part, but thought that the elders got 'the general gist of it' and 'there's no need to go into all the specifics'. I pressed my friend as to whether or not they thought that was real confession--and then they told me that if they confessed every detail, it would hurt the other person involved. Girls, is that what we're doing when we confess? Making excuses, trying to make sin sound better, not wanting to let go of everything? That's why some confession is not enough! We will never get out of the muck if we only confess part of it! Comparing it to the analogy of when we are saved, our eyes are opened to a room full of manure--what if the lights were still dimmed? We might be able to shovel out most of the manure, but it is only with full light that we will be able to see all and, with the grace of God, clean the whole room! Do not fall into the trap of partial confession--Satan will renew your strength to sin more!

In verse 11, my train of thought continues. Who is it that we are so scared of that we do not turn to Christ? Who is it that causes us to be false to Him? Are you scared that if you confess to being deceitful, your parents won't trust you or let you do anything? Are you scared that if you confess to sexual immorality, you may lose your boyfriend? Are you scared that if you confess to cheating at school, your friends won't look at you as intelligent? Are you scared that if you confess to not truly being a Christian, your friends will look down on you? There are so many things I have been scared of in the past. So many people I knew I would disappoint and hurt if I confessed certain sins. Two things I have learned though--imperfect people love and forgive. God, who is perfect, loves even more and forgives any sin we truly confess and repent of. Isn't that amazing??

Speaking of being scared, verse 12 is a harsh warning. God promises to expose our 'righteousness' and 'works'--but when He does, it will not benefit us! Think about it, ladies--think about all the works we've done. Will they ultimately be for His glory? Think about our righteousness--how righteous are we? Are we striving toward holiness? If God came today, and saw our pretension and superficiality, would He be content with that as righteousness? Would He look at all our works that were done to get praise or the attention of that guy or to look better, and say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant"? His standards are sooo much higher than ours!

:17 Sinful greed...willful ways. What are we greedy for? More worldliness? Have we submitted or are we continuing to walk in our willful ways? He promises to punish and hide His face--trust me, we don't want either one!

:21 "There is no peace...for the wicked". If you have no peace, pray to God and seek His mercy!!