I have never ever been kept in perfect peace.
At least not for a long time.

"He will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you."

—Isaiah 26:3

I have known peace of mind, perfect even, but I have not been kept in that state of mind.

I happen to have a simple faith.
I believe in God and have done so most of my life. Not in an ignorant way, I'd like to think.
I ask God many questions. But I don't have questions that shake my faith.

Uncomplicated might be a better word. If God says something, I believe it.
The words about perfect peace are in the Bible, so it must be true...

But they don't feel true. Not for me. 

Joni & me

Perfect Peace

The 80-20

And you? Have you been kept in perfect peace?
I had to dig deeper. 

He will keep in perfect peace, those whose minds are steadfast.
Well. There seems to be the problem.

A steadfast mind is not me. Mine is rather finicky.
Sincere, yes. Devoted on occasion.
But unwavering? Nah.

So I kept reading.

Because they trust in you.

Trust

You may not be an easy believer like me.
Your faith, or lack thereof may hold complex questions. Caveats and hesitations. There's always a 'but'.

Don't change that.

But do not give up, either.
Keep searching. Keep asking the questions.

Some answers take long, or need more questions first. Dig deeper.

But the answer here is surprisingly simple.

Trust Him.
Why?

Because He, the Lord God himself, is the Rock eternal.
There you have it. 

Two simple words, but they hold the largest promise.
Nothing is steadier than a rock.
Nothing lasts longer than eternal. 
There's nothing higher to trust.
Hello.

I may not be steadfast, and I may not experience perfect peace all of the time. But I know where to find it. 

“He will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord himself is the Rock eternal.”
— Isaiah 26:3,4

Problem

Nothing steadier than a rock and nota thing lasts longer than eternal. 
There's nothing higher to trust.
But there’s still a problem.

We may know certain things, yet don’t do the things we know are good for us. It can’t be I’m the only one with a finicky mind, right?

At times I need all the help I can get to return to the things I should. That's why I built some guardrails for myself. I’ll share two:

Trust

I always thought that Jesus’ main message during His time on earth—as recorded in the Bible—was love.
Love, love, love. Always love.

But Jesus spoke remarkably often of fear, too. 
Do not fear. Don’t worry. Let not your hearts be troubled.

Our human minds tend to worry. I’m not sure it’s in our DNA, because I believe we are created in the image of God. But the circumstances around us are loud. They take up all our attention if we let them. 
I think that's why Jesus says: do not fear.

Which echoes what Isaiah wrote:

Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord himself is the Rock eternal.

And how exactly do I do this? How do I keep my mind there, and not on the circumstances? Financial worry, health problems, relational issues, political chaos, life’s uncertainties, heartbreak, pain—all these uncertainties in our lives.

It is this. 
80-20. 

The 80-20

I've learned this from my friend Joni. Because of her disability she faces many difficult, painful, and uncertain circumstances in her life, on the daily. Yet she has a wonderfully steadfast faith and knows how to trust.

I learned many things from Joni Eareckson Tada, as you can read in my book Sunday Evenings with Joni.
One of them was the 80-20, it was at a time, after her cancer returned. Her quadriplegic body was exhausted, and her chronic pain nearly unbearable.
So I asked her:

“Joni, isn’t it enough? Aren’t you angry or disappointed with God?”

We had many conversations like this in the evenings I helped her with her evening routine. This time she looked at me—not with judgement, but with certainty—and said: 

“Angry at God?
No. But God taught me something during a time I did not understand what He was doing. After I broke my neck, I was angry at Him. And He showed me to pray 80-20."

She explained how twenty percent of her prayer is about the problem. 
And the whole other eighty percent moves away from the problem, toward God. Asking Him how to trust Him. How she could grow. How to bless others, even in this.

I thought it was the world upside down.

I told Joni I didn’t want to pray like this. My prayers were 200 percent about the problem, and after my amen, I would start all over again.

But in the days that followed, I started to pray like that. And something shifted in my mindset.
I was able to trust. To rest.

My anxiety lessened and my peace of mind grew.

I wanted to remember to pray like this. 
A tattoo seemed a bit much, so I designed a necklace instead.
The 80-20.

So yes, I may not be steadfast, and I may not experience perfect peace all of the time.
But I know where to find it.

And my finicky mind is learning that peace does not always show up in a permanent emotional state, but is a continual returning.
To trust. To rest.

Questions:

1. Read Isaiah 26:3–4 once more. Steadfastness is sandwiched into two other mindsets. Can one stand alone, pursued or controlled without the other?
2. What is it you trust most when life becomes uncertain? Your planning? Emotions? Other people? Productivity? Distraction?
   What helps your mind return when it spirals?
3. What would it look like to pray 80-20 this week?
4. Could it be that truly loving yourself has something to do with trust? With not allowing fear and worry occupy every room in your mind, instead to train your mind to return somewhere steadier?