Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals:
Monday February 2 2026
The Work Of Righteousness
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Isaiah 32:17-The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.
Joan (not her real name) had been through some very dark times.
She had come home one day to find her only child dead.
Shortly after that, her Mother passed away.
Then, her husband left her for another man.
She lost her job.
Her church suffered a split.
The bank foreclosed on her home.
Within six months, everything had gone terribly, terribly wrong.
Despite it all, Joan had a peace of mind and spirit that I was amazed by. As we studied the Word of God together at a local restaurant, I asked her how she had managed to hold on to that calmness of spirit which she exhibited.
“My faith,” she replied simply.
As we kept discussing, Joan made it clear that what comforted her specifically was her faith in the goodness of God. She knew that He was allowing the struggles and trials of life to bring about great things beyond her ability to comprehend. That is, she did not understand at the present time why God was allowing the suffering that she had endured: but she trusted in Him to bring good through it all one day.
One of God’s gifts to His children is peace that passes all understanding. This was how Joan endured the trials that she faced.
The Apostle Paul wrote:
Philippians 4:6-7-Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Consider the words of William Barclay about this text of Scripture.
“FOR the Philippians, life was bound to be a source of worry. Even to be a human being and so to be vulnerable to all the chances and the changes of this mortal life is in itself a cause for worry; and in the early Church, to the normal worry of the human situation there was added the worry of being a Christian, which meant taking one’s life in one’s hands. Paul’s solution is prayer. As M. R. Vincent says in his commentary, ‘Peace is the fruit of believing prayer.’ In this brief passage, there is a whole philosophy of prayer. (1) Paul stresses that we can take everything to God in prayer. As it has been beautifully put, ‘There is nothing too great for God’s power; and nothing too small for his fatherly care.’ Children may take anything, great or small, to their parents, sure that whatever happens to them is of interest there, their small triumphs and disappointments, their passing cuts and bruises. In exactly the same way, we may take anything to God, sure of his interest and concern. (2) We can bring our prayers, our petitions and our requests to God; we can pray for ourselves. We can pray for forgiveness for the past, for the things we need in the present, and for help and guidance for the future. We can take our own past and present and future into the presence of God. We can pray for others. We can commend to God’s care those near and far who are within our memories and our hearts. (3) Paul lays it down that ‘thanksgiving must be the universal accompaniment of prayer’. Christians must feel, as it has been put, that all through life they are, ‘as it were, suspended between past and present blessings’. Every prayer must surely include thanks for the great privilege of prayer itself. Paul insists that we must give thanks in everything, in laughter and in tears, in sorrows and in joys alike. That implies two things. It implies gratitude and also perfect submission to the will of God. It is only when we are fully convinced that God is working all things together for good that we can really feel the perfect gratitude towards him which believing prayer demands. When we pray, we must always remember three things. We must remember the love of God, which only ever desires what is best for us. We must remember the wisdom of God, which alone knows what is best for us. We must remember the power of God, which alone can bring about that which is best for us. Everyone who prays with a perfect trust in the love, wisdom and power of God will find God’s peace. The result of believing prayer is that the peace of God will stand like a sentry on guard over our hearts. The word that Paul uses (phrourein) is the military word for standing on guard. That peace of God, says Paul, as the Revised Standard Version has it, passes all understanding. That does not mean that the peace of God is such a mystery that the human mind cannot understand it, although this also is true. It means that the peace of God is so precious that the human mind, with all its skill and all its knowledge, can never produce it. It can never be of our contriving; it is only of God’s giving. The way to peace is in prayer to entrust ourselves and all whom we hold dear to the loving hands of God.” (William Barclay, The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians (The New Daily Study Bible), 90-92 (Kindle Edition): Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press)
We are certainly living in some difficult and trying times, aren’t we?
Perhaps we are asking:
“How can I have peace with all the bad things going on in the world today?”
My friend, let’s learn from Joan, and lay it all at the Savior’s feet!
When we do this, the Holy Spirit will help and strengthen us.
Romans 8:26-Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
As a believer who has been baptized into Christ (Romans 6:3-4), you have the Divine gift and privilege of prayer. Right now, bring your heart’s troubles to the throne of Jesus. Rest in the assurance that He loves you, that He will be with you each step of the way, and that He will bring good through whatever challenges that you are facing.
Psalm 27:13-14-I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. 14 Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!
Hebrews 4:15-16- For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Lord Jesus, grant us Your peace today. Guide us along each step of the often difficult pathway of life. We praise You and we thank You. Amen.