“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts..:“ Colossians 3:15
Peace of Christ…. hmmm…. clearly (to me anyway) that’s not the same thing as peace of mind, because I’ve been known to do all sorts of things to try to ensure that I have that. I’ve opened bank accounts and investment accounts so that my money would be safe. But I still wonder if it’s in the right place or if it could all disappear. I have car insurance and health insurance so that I don’t need to worry about accidents or bad health. Yet I do, because illness and accidents happen. My lesson plan book and materials are ready for the next school day so that I don’t waste one moment of my life away from work worrying about work. But there’s often something more I wish I’d done.
I try to be careful about my actions and decisions and words so that my life is not chaotic. But sometimes I fail and my life explodes. Yeah, no peace of mind in any of that, because it’s me trying to make peace happen depending upon my own strength in a world of no guarantees.
Even in the best of times, I have found that my mind still is aware that everything could suddenly change without warning. My ability to contain myself and situations has limitations. So whatever amount of peace I am able to create is very fragile. And fragile things make me nervous. The peace of Christ, on the other hand, is peace that I have because He reconciled me to God. That means that He took the blame for all the sins of my life – past, present, and future. So I can rest in the fact that I have been declared innocent in the eyes of God. He doesn’t see me as a hopeless, worthless case. He sees me as the beautiful creation of His own hand. I have the assurance of His presence in my life at all times day and night and the promise of His exceedingly great power at work in me.
I can be confident knowing that no matter what happens, He is ultimately in control of everything and will work it all together for good. He knows my every thought and commiserates with my every feeling. This peace is not of this world. It is peace at all times and in every circumstance. Perfect peace. Peace that surpasses understanding.
I need to allow that to rule my heart.