Isaiah 26:1-6. The beginning of a song that Judah will sing when the Lord restores his faithful's fortunes. They will say that their city is strong and shall open its gates to the righteous nation which keeps faith. God keeps those whose minds are fixed on him in perfect peace, because they trust in him. The Lord is an everlasting rock, we should trust in him forever. He has brought low the mighty, the "inhabitants of the height, the lofty city." He lays that city low, casts it into the dust, and the feet of the poor and needy trample it.

I have felt myself the peace we get from trusting God even in the most trying times (as these times are!). He really is the everlasting rock to which we must cling when the storms are raging all around us, and even when they are not! When we truly believe that he is our loving father and will not let anything happen to us that is not ultimately for our own good then our hearts and minds are filled with peace. Call it surrender, call it abandonment to divine providence, call it trust, it is all the same thing. God is in charge and he is all good and all loving.

So we trust, but we often find ourselves in pain, oppressed, suffering, poor, and needy. And there are always people who suffer much more than we do. What do we tell ourselves and them then? "Don't worry, God loves you" seems pretty weak sauce when the bullets are flying! But in all honesty that really is the time that we must pray and trust him the most. Truly miraculous things happen when the bullets are flying and we still believe and act in accordance with his will. When we don't shoot back, but instead love and pray for the people shooting at us and hope that we will see them in heaven. That is when we are trying to align our will with his. That is when he does his marvelous deeds and shows his power.

God lays low the mighty, the poor are powerless to do this without him. But when the oppressed call upon him, invoking him not only for their sake but also for the mighty's sake, then things really start to get interesting! He will lay low the mighty and the poor will trample on the lofty city turned to dust, but that accomplishes so much more than we see. Laying low the mighty is the only way the once mighty will ever be humble enough to turn to him and finally recognize God's plan and love. His plan is to bring all to salvation, even the mighty, even the wicked. They were all created in his his image.

When his kingdom comes and the gates are opened to the righteous nation, we all have a chance of being part of that nation, but we have to have had an encounter with him first. This often means losing everything that we are holding onto. It means having our lofty city destroyed and trampled on by the poor and needy. When that  happens, it is a very good thing.