January 11: THINGS THAT MAKE FOR PEACE

Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Isaiah 58:8

The sharing, hospitality, and generosity cited in the previous verse (7) are like springboards for let[ting] your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). These activities include those closest to you, your own flesh (v.7), friends, neighbors, coworkers, as well as the stranger who is within your gates (Exodus 20:10). Really, no one is excluded!

All of us have areas of our life in which serious defects have become entrenched; and suffering often results. Such things often pull us into an overly concentrated focus on ourselves and our own suffering, which only feeds the selfish nature within us. But a shift of focus onto the LORD and onto others for His sake alone has a divine healing effect—and speedily! Whether He chooses physical healing, spiritual healing, or both, is not something for us to dictate to Him. But an understanding that opens the door for His righteousness to emanate through you is just this: His purpose among fallen human beings centers upon the salvation of souls. And, if that were not enough, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. When we focus in this way, our comings and goings will be blessed by the LORD; and will inevitably prove to be far above and beyond what we might have dreamed (see 1 Corinthians 2:9).

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men (Titus 2:11), but rejection of that grace results in spiritual blindness, the exact opposite of being enveloped by His righteousness. Toward the end of His ministry, Jesus wept over Jerusalem, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:42)

It would be impossible to overstate the ‘tumblings’ of blessings for faithfulness to the Savior. He will answer you with His presence, make your light shine so that your own darkness shall be as the noonday, He will guide you continually and satisfy your soul, impart strength, and much more (see Isaiah 58:9-11). Even more great things are to follow:

Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In. Isaiah 58:12