In my last writing I referenced the importance of recognizing where we are located and the importance of ‘staying’ there. This is explicit in the passage below.
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Colossians 3:1–4 (NKJV)
What we now need to do is look at how we practically apply this spiritual reality because we are spiritually with Him, not there in physical substance. Doing this will of course address the saying, “You are so heavenly minded you are no earthly good” and establish that being heavenly minded is what enables us to truly be of earthly good. After all, as the tagline I came up with for my blog says, “An Eternal Perspective: Living in time, preparing for eternity.” It is what we do in time that determines both our eternal destiny and our role in eternity.
Now to the solution to our apparent problem. We find it in a verse in Isaiah that we will dig into.
3 You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)
The words perfect and peace are shalom in Hebrew, it is translated as ‘perfect peace’ to convey the importance via repetition but in Hebrew it is shalom shalom. Isaiah is telling us up front that this perfect peace, a heart at rest, is the result of an activity. That activity is keeping our minds set on Him (This may be the verse Paul had in mind when he wrote Colossians 3:2). We also see in what Isaiah wrote that we can only keep our mind fixed on Yahweh if we trust Him.
To go a little deeper the Hebrew word translated as mind is yester and it refers to how something is framed or formed and includes the idea of intention. The word stayed is the Hebrew samak and refers to leaning, resting or laying. In a number of places in scripture it is used to refer to a priest laying (resting) their hands on an animal before it is sacrificed. We can then see that when our intention is resting in and on Him we experience His peace and rest.
That is the background and in terms of our daily practice it means constantly looking to Him. Let me give you an example, one of my cousins recently shared a sermon with me. Bob, who is one of the pastors at a church in St. Albert, was preaching in a smaller community outside of Edmonton that my cousin attends. In his message Bob frequently referenced being in situations where he would inquire as to what the Father wanted him to do in that situation. He shared one story which had quite an impact on my cousin, and subsequently on me. Bob, was converted as a teenager from a lifestyle of drugs and partying in a small town in Northern Alberta. Not long after he attended a party to share the gospel. There he felt the Father leading him to share with two young men in their late teens who subsequently both acknowledged they wanted to change their lives and give their hearts to the Lord, which they did. Within two weeks they both died in a car accident.
One of those young men was my cousin’s brother and I was one of the pall bearers at the funeral forty-four years ago. It was only recently that the family learned through this sermon that he had given His heart to Jesus prior to his death.
The significance of these events is tied into how Bob lives his life. He is constantly looking to the Father for direction. His life is a pattern of how we are to live. We really have two options. We can live from earth toward heaven, or from heaven toward earth. Which is what Isaiah and Paul both described. When we live from heaven toward earth our hearts are at rest and we have no anxiety because we are assured of the ultimate outcome of our faith.
An example from my life took place over twenty-four years ago. I followed what I believed was His leading in applying for a different role at work. Logically it made no sense to me as I had just moved offices to be closer to home, thought I was to be in this particular office, and the new job was way across the city far from my home. I went through about four weeks of internal wrestling and anxiety because I tried to follow what seemed to be His leading but the logical outcome appeared to contradict His leading. It seemed that the Spirit’s leading to change offices and the Spirit’s leading to apply for the new role were contradictory!
In this situation if I had kept my mind set on Him, I could have gone through that time period with no anxiety. However, my vacillation between living from heaven toward earth and then seeking to live from earth toward heaven created a great deal of stress in my life. In the end it was needless. The position I had applied for was to be the manager of an office and it was offered to me – in the office I had transferred to! The current manager was transferred to the office I had applied to manage and I remained in the office I thought I was supposed to be in and in the role I sensed He had led me apply for. It worked out.
In the examples above, Bob had learned to consistently live from heaven toward earth. I had vacillated. I still do at times but the majority of the time I am at rest because I trust Him and seek His perspective on a daily basis. The choice is before all of us. We can live in and out of rest in Him or we can trust in our own wisdom. I prefer the former, what about you?
An additional thought. One of the places I have been reading in scripture is through Numbers. Recently in my reading I came across what has to be the funniest group of people in the bible. Who knew it would be found in Numbers! If you are curious read Numbers 26:23 in a more literal version like the NKJV, ESV or NASB.
