“There is a window in your heart through which you can see God.” Those words were written by Max Lucado. He went on to write, “Once upon a time that window was clear. You could see God as vividly as you could see a gentle valley or hillside. The glass was clean the pane unbroken.

You knew God. You knew how He worked. You knew what He wanted you to do. No surprises. Nothing unexpected. You knew that God had a will, and you continually discovered what it was.

Then, suddenly, the window cracked. A pebble broke the window. A pebble of pain. Perhaps the stone struck when you were a child and a parent left home—forever. Maybe the rock hit in adolescence when you heart was broken. Maybe you made it into adulthood before the window was cracked. But then the pebble came.

Was it a phone call? “We have your son at the station. You’d better come down.” Was it a letter left on the kitchen? “I’ve left. Don’t’ try to reach me. Don’t try to call me. It’s over. I just don’t love you anymore.” Was it a diagnosis from the doctor? “I’m afraid our news is not very good.”

Whatever the pebble’s form the result was the same – a shattered window. The pebble tore into the pane and shattered it. The crash echoed down the halls of your heart. Cracks shot out from the point of impact, creating a spider web of fragmented pieces.

And suddenly God was not so easy to see. The view that had been so crisp had changed. You turned to see God and his figure was distorted. It was hard to see him through the pain. It was hard to see him through the fragments of hurt.

The moment the pebble struck, the glass became a reference point for you. From then on, there was life before the pain and life after the pain. Before the pain, the view was clear; God seemed so near. After your pain, well, he was harder to see. He seemed a bit distant . . .harder to perceive.” Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm

There are real life situations that threaten everyone in this room at one time or another during our lifetime. Most of us have an unwritten rule about God. It starts with the words, “If God is God, then . . .”

No one will I love will ever get really sick.
My children will all die after me.
We will never be in a financial crisis as a family.
People will always treat me fairly.
My prayers will be answered. (the way I want them to be)

These axioms are not written down or notarized but they define the expectations we place on God. And when they don’t happen, people who don’t have an abiding faith and trust in God are easily turned and diverted away from the One True Source of comfort and peace.

The prophet Isaiah left us with one sentence that I want us to hear today.

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!” Isaiah 26:3 NLT

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3 NIV

This promise was given in the darkest period of Israel's history, so it may well prove to be a special help to us today, when we are surrounded by bad news and discouragement and when we are constantly threatened with the three great enemies of doubt, fear and worry.

When all is going well, and the skies are bright, it is easy to read this scripture in a very superficial way; but when clouds of trial, disappointment, fear and alarm drift across our sky and the sun is hidden, then how relevant these words become to us!

There is no promise anywhere in the Bible that encourages us to believe that while we are in our earthly bodies we shall experience freedom from trouble; but there is something far better, there is the promise of peace in the midst of trouble.

Of what value would freedom from trouble be if we had no inward peace? Yet how wonderful it is that in the middle of the fiercest battle, and while the storm is at its height, the trusting soul may experience inward peace, a deep down calm and a quiet confidence!

Last Sunday we talked about being grateful and practicing an attitude of thankfulness. Many of us wrote out our list of 50 things that we were thankful for. It was a great exercise to do and most of us felt that it was rewarding. While being thankful is a discipline we all need, I know that there are those of us who are struggling with worries and concerns that make it extremely difficult to be hopeful let alone thankful.

I also know that Christmas as we know it is not all that it is cracked up to be. It has turned into a time of stress. It is the end of the year and it is a time when money doesn’t seem to stretch far enough. It involves family which at times can be stressful. For some it evokes bad memories and not happy ones.

Nestled in Isaiah 26 is this short verse that is offered to you today. Maybe it is something you can grab hold of wrap your head and heart around as we prepare to enter the month of December. It may have nothing to do with Christmas. You may just be in over your head. Life has come at you fast and you weren’t ready. Let’s talk about peace.

1. There is a peace that has been promised

It is described as "perfect peace". But what is perfect peace? Can we define it? Yes, it is a condition of freedom from disturbance within the soul; it is perfect harmony reigning within. The Hebrew word "shalom" has in it the idea of soundness of health, so that to be filled with perfect peace is to be spiritually healthy and free from all discord within the soul.

There can be no room for jealousy, envy, discontent, uncontrolled temper, unforgiveness, selfishness, pride or intolerance in the soul which is filled with peace, for all these things are disturbing factors in the heart. They are discordant notes. The peace which God offers, and which we by His grace may experience, is very practical. It is none other than the kind of calm that happened in Jesus time on earth.

“When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.” Mark 4:39.

God calls the peace which He gives, "perfect peace". In what sense is it perfect?

1. It is perfect in it quality; that is to say, it is perfect in the kind of peace it is.
   
   There is imperfect peace:
   
   Ignorance. When we imagine that all is going well when in fact, if our eyes were open to see the truth we would know that all is not well. In Jeremiah we read, “They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace.” Jeremiah. 6:14
   
   Stagnation. The pool of water may be calm and peaceful, but underneath it is foul and green with slime. Many men and women know only a peace like that, and one day the shock of a challenge or tragedy will stir up their pool and they will find that they have no real peace at all.
   
   Dependence, which is a peace which is dependent upon some thing or person. How unsatisfactory this is, for the "thing" may fail and the "person" may die! Then, where is their peace? In contrast with these three kinds of imperfect peace, God's peace is perfect.
   
   One guy says, “My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished 2 bags of chips and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.” SOURCE: http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh
2. It is perfect in its quantity; that is to say, the supply of it is sufficient and it exactly meets our need. The marginal rendering of "perfect peace" is "peace, peace", i.e., double peace. This is very significant when we turn to Phil, 4:7. for there we are told that this double peace is peace of heart and mind, and that is the kind of peace we need, a peace which protects our mind and calms our heart. This double peace is also double in the sense that it is:
   1. Peace with God
      
      “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Rom. 5:1
   2. Peace of God
      
      "Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4: 7
   “And the peace of God, that passes all understanding will keep your hearts and mind through Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:7.
   
   In the north Atlantic, icebergs are often seen in the wintertime. Ships sailing the Atlantic are often caught in violent storms. Mighty vessels are tossed about like chips by the huge waves. How different it is with the icebergs! Like majestic, white castles, they glide peaceful through the storms. They were defiant of the mighty waves, which are hurling against them. Why? Only one-ninth of an iceberg is above the waters. The lower part is deep in the ocean where there is calm. When our lives are hidden with Christ, the storms of life are powerless to take from us the peace we have in God.
3. It is perfect in consistency; it is permanent and not intermittent. The promise says, "You will keep him in perfect peace." Psalm 121:4 says, “Indeed He who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.”

2. How do we experience perfect peace?

1. By Christ Jesus. Turn to Phil. 4:7 again and notice that Christ is the channel for the peace of God to flow into our souls. This peace within is the possession of the Christian alone. There is no peace for anyone who does not possess Christ.
   “And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to Himself.” Col. 1:20.
2. By the Holy Spirit. Christ procured peace for us upon the cross of Calvary, and that peace is offered to us through Him as the channel; but it is conveyed to our hearts and minds by the Holy Spirit, (Gal. 5:22.) As the Holy Spirit fills and floods our lives, so He produces this wonderful peace within us.
3. By His Word. Look up the great promise which is made in Psa. 119:165. “Great peace have they which love Your law and nothing will offend them”. A better rendering of the word "offend" is "disturb", circumstances and people so often disturb us, but here is a promise of perfect peace to those people who love and meditate in and obey the Word of God.
4. By our obedience. Look up Lev. 26:3-6, and be sure to notice that most important word "If". “If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, 4 I will send you the seasonal rains. The land will then yield its crops, and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. 5 Your threshing season will overlap with the grape harvest, and your grape harvest will overlap with the season of planting grain. You will eat your fill and live securely in your own land. “I will give you peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep with no cause for fear. I will rid the land of wild animals and keep your enemies out of your land. Lev. 26:3-6
   
   God guarantees to us that if we will walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, He will keep our hearts in perfect peace; if we will do our part, then God will surely do His part.
5. By worship and prayer. The promise of Phil. 4:7 is preceded by the conditions mentioned in verse 6. “Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand, His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

3. There are two actions that we must do to have perfect peace

1. Fixed faith
2. Total trust

Both these expressions denote faith, but one is a head word, the other is a heart word. What is the difference? With our head we believe, with our heart we trust; with our head we believe that God is the Author of peace, the Giver of peace; with the heart we trust Him to give what He promises.

One concluding word: notice that Isa. 26:3 begins with God and ends with God; it begins with "You" and it ends with "You", and the trusting soul goes in between. Perfect peace is, by faith, to get between these two words "You" and "You" and to stay there; perfect peace is the Lord Himself within us, not an experience, a doctrine, an "it", but the Lord Himself. Then, when we are stayed upon Jehovah, our hearts will be fully blessed, and then, and only then, will we find that He has promised, "Perfect peace and rest."

Sarah was rich. She had inherited twenty million dollars. Plus she had an additional income of one thousand dollars a day. That's a lot of money any day, but it was immense in the late 1800s.

Sarah was well known. She was the belle of New Haven, Connecticut. No social event was complete without her presence. No one hosted a party without inviting her.

Sarah was powerful. Her name and money would open almost any door in America. Colleges wanted her donations. Politicians clamored for her support. Organizations sought her endorsement.

Sarah was rich. Well known. Powerful. And miserable.

Her only daughter had died at five weeks of age. Then her husband had passed away. She was left alone with her name, her money, her memories, ... and her guilt.

It was her guilt that caused her to move west. A passion for penance drove her to San Jose, California. Her yesterdays imprisoned her todays, and she yearned for freedom.

She bought an eight-room farmhouse plus one hundred sixty adjoining acres. She hired sixteen carpenters and put them to work. For the next thirty-eight years, craftsmen labored every day, twenty-four hours a day, to build a mansion. Observers were intrigued by the project. Sarah's instructions were more than eccentric ... they were eerie. The design had a macabre touch. Each window was to have thirteen panes, each wall thirteen panels, each closet thirteen hooks, and each chandelier thirteen globes.

The floor plan was ghoulish. Corridors snaked randomly, some leading nowhere. One door opened to a blank wall, another to a fifty-foot drop. One set of stairs led to a ceiling that had no door. Trap doors. Secret passageways. Tunnels. This was no retirement home for Sarah's future; it was a castle for her past. The making of this mysterious mansion only ended when Sarah died. The completed estate sprawled over six acres and had six kitchens, thirteen bathrooms, forty stairways, forty-seven fireplaces, fifty-two skylights, four hundred sixty-seven doors, ten thousand windows, one hundred sixty rooms, and a bell tower.

Why did Sarah want such a castle? Didn't she live alone? "Well, sort of," those acquainted with her story might answer. "There were the visitors..." And the visitors came each night. Legend has it that every evening at midnight, a servant would pass through the secret labyrinth that led to the bell tower. He would ring the bell...to summon the spirits. Sarah would then enter the "blue room," a room reserved for her and her nocturnal guests. Together they would linger until 2:00 a.m., when the bell would be rung again. Sarah would return to her quarters; the ghosts would return to their graves. Who comprised this legion of phantoms? Indians and soldiers killed on the U.S. frontier. They had all been killed by bullets from the most popular rifle in America -- the Winchester. What had brought millions of dollars to Sarah Winchester had brought death to them. So she spent her remaining years in a castle of regret, providing a home for the dead. You can see this poltergeist palace in San Jose, if you wish. You can tour its halls and see its remains.

But to see what unresolved guilt can do to a human being, you don't have to go to the Winchester mansion. Lives imprisoned by yesterday's guilt are in your own city. Hearts haunted by failure are in your own neighborhood. People plagued by pitfalls are just down the street .. or just down the hall. How many Sarah Winchesters do you know? How far do you have to go to find a soul haunted by ghosts of the past? Maybe not very far. Maybe Sarah's story is your story. [Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm, Word Publishing, 1991, pp. 193-195]

May all your expectations be frustrated.
May all your plans be thwarted.
May all your desires be withered into nothingness.

That you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child and sing, dance, and trust in the love of God who is Father, Son, and Spirit.

Prayer by Brennan Manning

What is causing you a lack of peace today? What is stirring in the depth of your soul that you need to turn over to Christ? Aren’t you hungry for a deep down calm & quiet confidence in your life today?

As we sing this song, I am inviting you to pray today. Spend some time with Jesus. We are not rushed. We have the time. Can you take the time? Will you take the time?