Colossians 3:15 Peace
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

By Marni Montanez

Colossians 3:15

“And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.”  Colossians 3:15

Many descriptions of peace tend to lean toward being something that appears when something else has been eliminated like war, conflict, struggles….etc.

However, God’s peace is not limited to the absence of something. Peace is a choice that is practiced.  When the apostles were in the middle of a storm they believed they were going to die. Their focus was narrowed into a vacuum of despair and anxiety.  Had they stood back and looked at the whole situation, they would have seen that Jesus was still in the midst of that storm or situation with them and that He wasn’t worried at all. In fact, He was asleep. This was God Himself in their boat and if they had taken note of God’s reaction, they could have seen the broader reality and stopped panicking.

We are the same.  We compromise our view of the circumstances we face when we choose to see them with restrictions based on our experiences.  This small view is usually dire and hopeless, because it only reveals a small view. When we stop focusing on the problem, we can see the big picture. God is always in the big picture. But more than that, God has a ready net to rescue us if need be.

God expects us to have peace in all situations.  Why?  Because He is our peace.  

In this verse God is plainly saying it is not the “when” of something happening that brings peace, it is the “Who” and the “Who” is Him.   Our peace is not dependent upon circumstances, it comes from and is God’s presence within us.

The peace that is from God manifests from trust and faith.  It becomes our fortress with walls of courage and strength. His peace creates our attitude about the circumstances and dares us to be hopeful even in the midst of hard things.    

We don’t know what awaits us just around the corner, and peace is the vehicle that will take us to great possibilities.  We can choose to navigate through the pitfalls of despair or anxiety and meet the challenges that arise from the troubles or conflicts that try to pull us under.  With this as our view, we will sprout wings and be able to see problems as a potential avenue for acquiring a deeper faith walk.  This perspective enhances our ability to see with greater faith that somehow in His time God will resolve the issues we face.  Why does God want us living in peace?    It is because it is then that we are living in Him.  

Challenge:   Practice the peace of God.  Each day sit for 15 minutes without an agenda and wait upon the Lord.  Find out what His agenda is for that day and move forward in it.  Remember His yoke is easy, His burden is light.

God bless

Marni

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The purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.