You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you. Isaiah 26:3

 

To an outsider looking in, Aleena is trapped. In her culture, women don’t go out of their homes without a male relative, so Aleena spends most of her time in her kitchen.

 

Aleena sat in her kitchen and a deep depression began to take over her life. Her days were all the same, except for one day a week when she was chaperoned to the city market. But every day, Aleena would listen to the radio as she worked and one day, she heard a message that changed her forever. She heard about Jesus, the son of God who wanted to bring love, peace, and forgiveness to her, right there, in what felt like a prison cell.

 

Aleena kept listening as people called into the radio station, asking for prayer. “I can do that! I cannot leave my kitchen, but I can pray!” she thought. She asked the station to send her all the callers’ prayer requests. As Aleena began to pray for others, she changed, though nothing changed in her life circumstances. First, her sister-in-law wanted to know what was different about her and her sister-in-law met Jesus. Then her mother-in-law wanted this peace and joy and finally, her husband demanded to know what was going on with all the women in his home!

 

The Bible says that God “comforts the downcast” and “encourages the discouraged” (2 Corinthians 7:6). It also says that God “will keep in perfect peace all who trust in [Him], all whose thoughts are fixed on [Him]” (Isaiah 26:3). Aleena learned how valued she was by God, that she was seen by Him and when her focus was on Him, joy replaced depression, even when life remained the same.