To Encourage You

Colossians 3:15 “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts . . . And be thankful.”

Do you know that Christians have an umpire who regulates their behavior?  We are told about it in the verse above which tells us that we are to let the peace of God rule in our hearts.  That word “rule” is derived from a Greek word that means to act as an umpire, or to govern.  In an athletic contest the athletes can’t just do anything they want. There are rules that govern their behavior, and the umpire or referee makes sure one adheres to those rules.  The referee acts as a check on the behavior of the athletes. 

For the believer, a peaceful heart should rule us.  Whenever anxiety tries to sneak in to rob us of joy, we are to remind ourselves that we have a loving Father who has told us that we are at peace with Him.  No matter what comes into our lives, we have an omnipotent Father who is watching over us, and sovereignly governing everything that touches us. It is because of this wonderful truth that we can be thankful, as the verse above says. 

In another place we are commanded to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).  A peaceful heart, joy, prayer, and thankfulness are all linked and the natural outcome of trusting in a loving God who rules all.  In every circumstance of life, the moment that fear or anxiety creep in, we should stop what we’re doing and put a pause on how we’re thinking, for we know that the peace of Christ isn’t ruling at that moment.  We’re at odds with the umpire, so to speak, and we need to stop.  Then our hearts should turn to the truth that we serve a God Who rules.  He has told us that “for those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28).  Notice that it says “all things.”  That means whatever is working to bother and worry us at this very moment.  Rather than worry and fret about that thing, we are to be thankful for it, for in some way God is at work in that very situation to bring us good.  If it is something in the past that is working to bring us regret and thus rob our joy, we should remember that God has told us that we are to be people that are in the practice of “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13).  If we’ve sinned or otherwise messed up in the past, that’s behind us. Move ahead and do what we can to correct it, and live at peace. And if it’s something in the present or future that is worrying us, we are to pray about it, leave it with God, and be at peace, for the peace of Christ is the ruler.  We need to let that peace rule rather than all the other things that work to violate that peace. 

Aren’t these wonderful commands from a wonderful Commander, Who has given us the wonderful gift of His precious peace to rule in our hearts?