Healing peace
by Norma Koehne
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‘Peace, peace, to the far and near, says the Lord; and I will heal them’ (Isaiah 57:19).
In our frantic and busy world, and especially at this time of anxiety and confusion due to COVID-19, we all long for peace in our lives. So many people I speak to here in Victoria are down and depressed after all these months of lockdown. It is very hard for people living alone when they cannot even have one family member visit. We especially miss the support and comfort of our brothers and sisters in Christ that we received through gathering together in worship.
God reassures us that although he lives in a high and holy place, he also lives with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit (verse 15). God lives with us. He walks beside us every day of our lives, and he holds us in his loving care. He will lead us by the hand through death into eternal life. What amazing peace this gives us.
I remember the time when I received a breast cancer diagnosis. All I could think was that whatever happened, God would be with me all the way, and this brought a tremendous sense of peace and of being held in God’s loving hands. God, who has done so much for us through the death of his Son, is willing to be with us every day and leads us to have a contrite and lowly heart, a heart that is repentant, humble, and trusting.
How will God give us this peace and healing? He will ‘revive the spirit of the lowly, and revive the heart of the contrite’ (verse 15b). As we read God’s word, praise him in our worship, confess our sins, and pray to him, he comes to us and revives us. He renews, refreshes, restores and even restarts us.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. And the peace of God which passes all understanding be with us now and always. Amen.
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