Several months ago, I wrote Isaiah 26:3 on a yellow Post-it note and stuck it on my desk next to my laptop.
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you” (ESV).
At the time (and still, if I’m honest), I was overwhelmed by a big project at work. I felt unequal to the task ahead of me. So, when I came across that verse from Isaiah, I felt compelled to write it where it would be in front of my eyes whenever I sat at my desk.
As I aimed to fix my eyes on whatever task was in front of me at the moment, that yellow sticky note reminded to first fix my mind on the Lord.
A few months later, I found out that friends of ours who are walking through a deep season of loss have claimed that same verse. Isaiah 26:3 was ever before them as they relied on God to sustain them through grief. My work stress is tiny in comparison, but the truth claimed and the comfort provided are the same: the Lord, perfectly trustworthy, will keep those in peace whose minds are stayed on him.
It’s the staying of the mind that is the biggest challenge for me. That yellow note is helpful, ever before my eyes, but fixing those eyes on Jesus amid stress and busyness and pain and sin is hard. As soon as I think I’ve got my mind stayed on him, something comes along to knock my glance away from the Lord and onto the next task.
Or that small offense I’m having trouble surrendering.
Or the thing making me grumpy with my children.
Or the underlying worry that whatever I’m undertaking will not, in fact, succeed. I could be spinning and spinning toward a task that will wind up fruitless.
It is too easy to fix my mind on those things. God’s Word is a far more worthy anchor, for sure, but how do I move beyond a sticky note on my desk to a more consistent practice of meditating on it?
The answer, at least in the short term, may be more sticky notes. A group of women at our church recently began a study of the Book of Proverbs. The first nine chapters are a deep dive into the difference between wisdom and folly, with Solomon urging his readers to heed the calling of wisdom and walk down her path, instead of the wider path of folly that ultimately leads to death.
Get wisdom, he says plainly in Proverbs 4:5, and once it’s yours, he says again and again, keep it close. Wear it. Tie it around your neck and write it on the tablet of your heart (3:3). Guard it as you would your own eye; tie it to your fingers; and, again, write it on your heart (7:2-3).
Maybe writing God’s Word on my heart starts with writing it on a Post-it. Perhaps wearing it around my neck begins with getting His wisdom in front of my eyes as often as possible. Think about how many times we could interact with Scripture during a regular day:
A note on your steering wheel: “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105).
A card slipped into the back of your phone case: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
On your computer screen at work: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10).
Taped to the dishwasher: “Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).
Near your alarm clock: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are protected” (Proverbs 18:10).
The verses we choose to meditate on might reflect a particular struggle or season. Or, God might impress certain words on our hearts for our own encouragement or so we can share them with others who need to hear His wisdom. Whatever pieces of his Word we set before our eyes, we can be sure they will not return void (Isaiah 55:11).
That’s a promise worth clinging to, worthy of wearing around our neck, tying to our fingers, and writing on the tablet of our heart.
Meredith Flynn is a wife, mother, administrator, writer, and Christ follower living in Springfield.