Cris's verse for the week of 10/25/15

My verse for this week is Isaiah 32:17

"And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever."

I'm choosing this one because I feel that I need some quietness and assurance in my life right now, and I need to figure out how to get it.

Update 11/1/15:

I’m not very good at ponderizing yet.  I had a hard time brining my mind to this scripture through the week—but I can say that I did think of it at least once or twice a day.  Often it was in the morning while I was praying, or at night while I was praying.

Last Sunday, when I chose this scripture, I looked at the footnotes, which are on the words “peace” and “assurance”.  I am so grateful for the LDS editions of the scriptures.  The footnotes, the Topical Guide, the Bible Dictionary, and other things unique to these books are a great blessing to teach and increase understanding.

Both of the footnotes for this verse point to various topics within the Topical Guide.  I looked at the references within the topics, but I think it was the topics themselves that gave me the most insight into the verse.

The topics for “peace” are “Conscience”, “Peace”, “Peace of God”, and “Peacemakers.”  The first one was really surprising to me, but it makes a lot of sense upon reflection.  Many times, it is our conscience that leads us to do righteous things.  Also, acting righteously can bring a clear conscience.

The topics for “assurance” are “Happiness” and “Joy”.  And isn’t that what the assurance from the Holy Ghost brings?  When we know from the Spirit that what we are doing is righteous, there truly is joy.

Early in the week when I was thinking about this verse, I was leaving out the word “shall” in the first phrase.  But when I saw the word, I realized how much it changes the meaning of the scripture.  One of the reasons I chose this verse was to try to understand how to find peace, quietness, and assurance—what is righteousness?  The word “shall” answers that.  Righteous acts bring peace of conscience, spread the peace of God, and cause us to act as peacemakers.  So telling the truth is an act of righteousness.  Admitting when you’re wrong is an act of righteousness.  Letting other drivers get into your lane is an act of righteousness.  Easing the workload of a coworker without any fuss or need for recognition is an act of righteousness.

So even though I’m not very good at ponderizing yet, the little I did this week gave me an increased understanding of one of the most basic topics there is: righteousness.