Isaiah 26:3-4

3 You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
4 Trust in the LORD forever,
For in YAH, the LORD,
is everlasting strength.

My Grandfather passed away Friday at the age of 90. I think these verses describe who he was pretty well. I am sure he must have had fears, but I never saw any evidence of anything in his demeaner, words or reactions to circumstances except perfect peace. I'm not sure if he always had this part figured out, but from the time I knew him he seemed to. In his presence I felt a sense of peace and safety, like as long as he was there, nothing could happen that couldn't be handled.

Even though Grandaddy was naturally built this way, with his strong physical stature, blue collar work ethic, and white collar education and wisdom, the degree of peace he possessed could not have been grounded in his confidence in his own abilities. I believe He is evidence that these verses from Isaiah are true. This provides much hope for the rest of us, that a man who centered his life around the person of Jesus Christ exhibited such strong evidence of this promise of perfect peace fulfilled. The hope is this-- that if we do as he did and make Jesus the center of our lives-- we will see that same promise fulfilled in us, we will have peace in all storms, we will not want to run from any problem whether sudden or chronic, we will shelter those around us and make them feel safe.