Let Peace Be Your Umpire
The scripture says in Colossians 3:15 to let peace act as an umpire, deciding with finality the decisions that arise in our minds. This is saying that peace should be the deciding factor when it comes to the decisions we make. In other words, we should always ask ourselves, "How do I feel about this situation? Do I have peace or is there unrest inside?" This principle can help us in our everyday lives.
On our recent trip to Australia, Victoria and I got up early one morning to go get breakfast. I noticed the waiter walking by with a huge stack of steaming hot pancakes. Now, I love pancakes, but I never eat them like I used to because they make me feel so lethargic whenever I do. But these pancakes smelled so good. I saw that syrup running down the sides and butter partially melted on top. I thought to myself, "Oh, this one time is not going to affect me. Besides, these are Australian pancakes. These are special." So I went ahead and ordered a stack for myself. The whole time I was eating them I felt uneasy on the inside. Something was telling me, "Joel, you’d better not eat those pancakes. They’re going to make you feel bad." But I ignored that inner voice and ate every bite—they were delicious! I thought, "That’s exactly what I needed." But do you know that just about thirty minutes later, I felt like I had been run over by a truck! I felt so bad that I had to lie down. I felt tired the whole afternoon.
Now, that was a fairly small decision with a fairly small consequence. But any time we override the peace in our hearts, there are consequences to face. How many people buy things that they don’t have peace about and end up head over heels in debt? How many people get into relationships and ignore that inner prompting, and now that relationship is a big mess? And we know that God is bigger than our mistakes. His grace is sufficient. He’ll always provide a way of escape. But how much better off would we be by just following the peace in our hearts? How much heartache would we spare ourselves?
Make the decision today that you are not going to override what you’re feeling inside. Remember, that inner peace is your safeguard. Let it act as the umpire of your life, telling you if you’re safe or out or whether you should say yes or no. Let the Holy Spirit guide you by His peace in every decision you make so you can experience the true joy and freedom Jesus came to give you!
On our recent trip to Australia, Victoria and I got up early one morning to go get breakfast. I noticed the waiter walking by with a huge stack of steaming hot pancakes. Now, I love pancakes, but I never eat them like I used to because they make me feel so lethargic whenever I do. But these pancakes smelled so good. I saw that syrup running down the sides and butter partially melted on top. I thought to myself, "Oh, this one time is not going to affect me. Besides, these are Australian pancakes. These are special." So I went ahead and ordered a stack for myself. The whole time I was eating them I felt uneasy on the inside. Something was telling me, "Joel, you’d better not eat those pancakes. They’re going to make you feel bad." But I ignored that inner voice and ate every bite—they were delicious! I thought, "That’s exactly what I needed." But do you know that just about thirty minutes later, I felt like I had been run over by a truck! I felt so bad that I had to lie down. I felt tired the whole afternoon.
Now, that was a fairly small decision with a fairly small consequence. But any time we override the peace in our hearts, there are consequences to face. How many people buy things that they don’t have peace about and end up head over heels in debt? How many people get into relationships and ignore that inner prompting, and now that relationship is a big mess? And we know that God is bigger than our mistakes. His grace is sufficient. He’ll always provide a way of escape. But how much better off would we be by just following the peace in our hearts? How much heartache would we spare ourselves?
Make the decision today that you are not going to override what you’re feeling inside. Remember, that inner peace is your safeguard. Let it act as the umpire of your life, telling you if you’re safe or out or whether you should say yes or no. Let the Holy Spirit guide you by His peace in every decision you make so you can experience the true joy and freedom Jesus came to give you!