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

This morning I woke up thinking about this peace that God will provide and the last stanza of Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken.  Reading the entire poem it would seem that the name of the poem might have been more fitting to be The Road Less Traveled because as he writes, that has made all the difference.  Although the author might not have meant it this way, I have always related it to choosing to follow Christ:

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.                        Robert Frost 

In Matthew 7:14 Jesus says, “But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”  This is the Biblical “Road Less Traveled”.  While great is the blessing by simply not taking the other road (that leads to destruction), there is more to it than that.  It involves who we are and who we become as we take this road leading to life.

Colin Harbinson, a friend of ours, has a statement that focuses on this and my wife loves to quote him:  “We are human beings – not human doings.”  This really gets at the heart of today’s verse.  The Lord will keep in perfect peace him who is steadfast, because he trusts in the Lord.  Being steadfast and trusting in the Lord are the keys.  The Amplified Bible helps us by ‘amplifying’ the meaning of these words in Isaiah:

^“You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.”

These are the attributes of the Road Less Traveled that the Lord wants to develop within us.  These are things we learn and grow in.  It is so much more than a list of ‘dos and don’ts’.  Remember that it is not only the destination that is a prize, but it is the journey that makes the difference.  It is as we walk along the road (with Him) that we experience the life-giving, life-transforming relationship with our Lord.

Life is filled with difficulties and uncertainties, but His peace is not subject to them. Likewise, neither are we.  His plan and provision are for us to walk in His peace no matter what turbulence is going on around us.  By focusing on Him, He transforms us so that today’s verse becomes the reality of our lives.