When Isaiah 32:17 Floats in Your Brain

Sometimes Isaiah 32:17 floats in my brain on difficult days.

I remember the promise here that the fruit of righteousness is peace. If you look up the Hebrew word for "peace" in this verse, it's of course shalom! 

I learn that shalom refers to completeness, soundness, safety, wholeness, harmony, contentment, and a sense that "all is well" or "all is just as it should be."

If I lived out of this shalom reality, how different my attitude, how different my disposition! I receive this by faith (Christ's righteousness), but I also remember to keep in step with the Spirit because sin unsettles. It destroys that experience of harmony, wholeness, and well-being. I ask God, like David did, to expose "any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting."

The end of Isaiah 32:17 offers another fruit of righteousness: quietness and confidence forever. These Hebrew words mean "tranquil and undisturbed" and "complete security."

I receive the fruit of righteousness today. I let everything in me enter into shalom. Regardless of how unsettled I feel, I flip the switch of faith and chose to believe this reality is mine. It's here now, and I believe it.