The Isaiah passage says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” One of the things I have learned from past meditation on this verse is that if my mind is not at peace, and if being focused on the Lord is hard, it’s a trust issue. That means if I’m facing a problem that seems to ensnare my thinking, the first order of business is to remind myself of why I can trust the Lord. I was reviewing this verse today. Afterwards I also did some word studies on Mark 14:32-42. This portion of Mark is about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is a passage that describes Jesus’ great mental anguish because of what he was about to face.
“My soul is very sorrowful (literally, grieved all around),” he told his disciples. This passage also describes him as greatly distressed and anguished. These are not the feelings I expect to have when my mind is stayed on God because I trust in him. Yet, Jesus did have those feelings and I do not believe he had a trust issue. His mind was acutely aware of what he was about to face and how hard it would be. And in the face of his intense sorrow, he submitted his will to the Father’s and he “endured the cross for the joy that was set before him.” (Hebrews 12:2)
I’m having to rethink my understanding of what it means to have a mind that is stayed on God because I trust in him. I don’t want to be like one of Job’s friends, making assumptions about people because their response to life’s pressures doesn’t match my preconceived notions of what it looks like to trust in God.