The peace of God has purpose in my being. It is not just a nice feeling for me to enjoy. It is my spiritual thermometer to indicate my trust in God whatever my circumstances. It is an assurance from the Lord amid adversity of any form, whether the trial is physical pain, emotional problems, financial issues, relationship difficulties, work related problems etc., that He can carry me through. The Lord is my solid foundation, immovable, unchanging Rock on which to stand. Here I declare that there is never a reason strong enough to ever stop praising the Lord. Trusting my heavenly Father, my eyes fixed firmly on Him, my ears tuned to hear His voice among the cacophony of the other voices that would lead me away from His direction, I find His peace IN the furnace of affliction.
Someone famously said: ” If you don’t set the rhythm for your heart to follow, the world, (and the devil) will set it for you!” I am responsible to walk in the light God has shown me, otherwise that light becomes darkness to me, and how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:23)
Jesus taught us: “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”, John 14:27. A trusting heart has no fear. The Lord Jesus taught that trouble is not in trouble, but in our heart’s attitude to trouble. My heart is my trouble spot. Let not your heart be troubled. This puts the responsibility on me to trust Him and results in Him bestowing His peace amid troubled waters.
L E T……Three letters that make up one small word that carries so much weight. Let. “LET the peace of God rule in your hearts…”, Colossians 3:15. LET not your heart be troubled.
The peace that God gives is independent of circumstance, unlike the feeling of happiness that the world gives when everything goes my way. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, give I unto you. LET not your heart be troubled, neither LET it be afraid”, John 14: 27.
I cannot blame others for stealing my peace. I am the doorkeeper of my heart and I must choose to LET Jesus reign there. In this position my spiritual thermometer will register God’s peace, demonstrating to myself and others that the King is in residence there!
When we live in turmoil we can sometimes run down so many avenues that complicate our lives and thinking. There is a simplicity in Christ Jesus and His teachings that if we adhere to, will result in God’s peace. Paul said to the Corinthian church, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ”. 2 Corinthians 11:3 Let us keep Jesus, His teaching and commands central to our lives, always giving Him pre-eminence.
The apostle Paul said we are living epistles (letters), known and read of all men, (2 Corinthians 3). As living epistles, LET our letters, our lives, be LET-ERS. I can choose to worship God IN any circumstance, not FOR it, but in it. Here is where we labour to enter God’s rest, ( Hebrews 4: 9-11), it is a choice as we surrender our understanding of events. We let the peace of God rule our hearts in thanksgiving and praise of who God is, our great “I AM”, and discover the truth of Philippians 4:7 – “And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”. There is a position in Christ where I do not have understanding of every situation, but I do need God’s peace in it. It is my birthright in Jesus. As I bow and surrender my understanding to the Lord, He gives me His peace. The situation may not have changed as yet, but as I trust Him He takes me to a new level as I journey through with Him.
Never surrender the sense of God’s presence, (God’s peace), to a situation. Christ is our peace. Learn to understand, and read, your spiritual peace thermometer. The Holy Spirit will guide and teach you.
Photo by Jaros?aw Kwocza?a on Unsplash
