Peace, The Fruit of Righteousness

¹⁵ till the Spirit is poured on us from on high,
    and the desert becomes a fertile field,
    and the fertile field seems like a forest.
¹⁶ The Lord’s justice will dwell in the desert,
    his righteousness live in the fertile field.
¹⁷ The fruit of that righteousness will be peace;
    its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.
¹⁸ My people will live in peaceful dwelling places,
    in secure homes,
    in undisturbed places of rest.
¹⁹ Though hail flattens the forest
    and the city is leveled completely,
²⁰ how blessed you will be,
    sowing your seed by every stream,
    and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.

Isaiah 32:15-20 NIV

Back in May, I shared about how I fight for peace in my house through prayer. I walk around outside or inside and kick out the enemy, invite more of God’s presence, and praise Him for who He is and all He has done for us. The title, Peaceful Dwelling Places, is based on one of my favorite verses to pray through the house.

I shared this verse with a friend recently and realized that I hadn’t done my due diligence in reading what came before and after this verse. Have you ever done that? Memorized and spoken a verse with confidence, completely neglecting the context? Oops! Luckily the context for this verse didn’t negate my ability to stand on it, but it sure did shed some light on how God brings peace about.

You see, this verse is in Isaiah. There are so many popular verses that we recognize and use from Isaiah that once you read in context you begin to wonder if you understood the verse at all! It’s almost as if we need to be reading the whole Bible repeatedly and studying it and asking God to reveal His word to us… and of course, this is the case. I just keep forgetting it.

God didn’t just plan a verse in Isaiah that I could pray around my house, He created a whole plan and prophecy and gave us the historical context to understand, after the fact, that peace comes from somewhere and that strife comes from somewhere. I am not talking about blaming the victim in every scenario, but I do know that when we have homes full of turmoil, we need to look at how we are living.

Here are the verses that come before the passage above.

⁹ You women who are so complacent,
    rise up and listen to me;
you daughters who feel secure,
    hear what I have to say!
¹⁰ In little more than a year
    you who feel secure will tremble;
the grape harvest will fail,
    and the harvest of fruit will not come.
¹¹ Tremble, you complacent women;
    shudder, you daughters who feel secure!
Strip off your fine clothes
    and wrap yourselves in rags.
¹² Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
    for the fruitful vines
¹³ and for the land of my people,
    a land overgrown with thorns and briers—
yes, mourn for all houses of merriment
    and for this city of revelry.
¹⁴ The fortress will be abandoned,
    the noisy city deserted;
citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever,
    the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks,

Isaiah 32:9-14 NIV

Ouch! Did you hear that, women? “Women who are so complacent, daughters who feel secure.” We know that He is speaking to a specific group of women in a specific location (the women of Jerusalem at that time) but we also know that God can speak to them and convict us at the same time. My ears always prick up when women are specifically mentioned in the Bible. This will also speak to you men as well. Complacency is something both genders can slip into.

The authority my husband has in our home is nothing to be scoffed at. A simple prayer from him kicks the enemy out so quickly and changes the atmosphere so completely that it makes me ask for prayer often. But isn’t there something about how a woman prowls around her house? Don’t women just hate it when we catch a whiff of something or someone who wants to hurt our families? When there is danger don’t we move differently, listen differently, and speak differently?

It’s the same reason we all panic when we see a baby bear. We know Mom is close. Can you imagine trying to pick a lion cub when there are 3 lionesses close by? What do you think the enemy feels when a godly mother sees an attack on her children? Or a godly grandmother. Or aunt.

I have been a complacent woman before. More than once! I sat back, unaware I had a job to perform, okay with the strife and pain in my house. I assumed that’s just the way things were. Everyone around me had the same things going on: nightmares, backtalk, and instability. Sometimes I just get lazy, sick of the ongoing battle. We need to be actively working against sin in our lives and teaching our families the same. We need to be fighting against the forces of darkness with the God of Heavenly Hosts. Prayer, worship, and the Word of God need to be alive and well in our homes.

Peace is what I want so God is teaching me how to get it. Stop being lazy! Stop pretending like my behavior has nothing to do with it! I ask God for the things I need and want and hope that He will ignore the state of my heart. Our hearts are His first and foremost concern. He can do absolutely anything, but He invites us into the process. He can keep the enemy at bay and often does, but He shows us how to do it and, in the process, sanctifies and changes us.

Verse 17 says “The fruit of that righteousness will be peace.” I believe He is speaking of the Messiah to come but we also know that we have a responsibility to be righteous. Right with God through Jesus, covered in Jesus’s righteousness, hungering for righteousness, and fighting to behave righteously. The fruit of righteousness will be peace, and the fruit of complacency will be strife.

A wise friend showed me this verse the other day.

¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

James 3:17-18 ESV

Here are peace and righteousness brought together again.

¹⁷ For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit

Romans 14:17 NIV

I love that joy makes its appearance too. Joy is my favorite. I love serving a God that gives strength through joy. It also starts hinting at the fact that joy is not dependent on anything other than God. The same goes for righteousness and peace. Problems are going to come. Attacks from the physical and spiritual side of things are going to come. There will be death and loss and pain and misfortune but if we want peaceful homes, we need righteousness.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.

Matthew 5:6 NIV

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