Tranquility

Thou shall keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on Thee,
because he trusts in Thee. 
Isaiah 26:3

Tranquility is hard to find in prison. There's too much energy locked inside the bodies of these men...

There is agitation and restlessness, and all the tensions which goes along with prison life - everything from disputes between inmates, to worries about family matters, appeals that are before the courts, plus all the noise and commotion.

Thankfully my peace and tranquility comes from the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. But sometimes the endless noise and daily tensions get to me, too. At least I have my Bible to draw strength from. I have a hope deep within my heart that my incarceration will not continue forever.

I have also been looking at the life of John the Baptist. He was a Jew, by the way, and not a Baptist at all! His father, Zacharias, had been a priest at the local synagogue (Luke 1:5). Anyhow, probably after the deaths of his elderly parents, John set out for the desert where he began his training for the ministry God wanted to prepare him for. He was the forerunner of the Lord Jesus himself.

How blessed John was. Not only was he to prepare the way of the Lord, he actually got to live in a quiet desert where the only sounds was that of the wind as it blew, and of wild animals and maybe crickets. I could only dream of such a peaceful place.

D. B.