Peace is Your Compass
March 2023
I’m sure we have all had at least one time in our lives where we were faced with a big life decision. I also know that it’s very rare that we are faced with life altering decisions only once in our lifetime. And if you haven’t yet, believe me it’s coming! So this is something we should probably figure out how to do successfully. It’s easy to get flustered and afraid when we are at that place of making life’s decisions. We can over complicate it and get so worked up that we can’t hear the Spirit of wisdom. Making decisions is something that we all face. It’s inevitable in life, we will at some point come to a place where we are faced with choosing between different options. Sometimes it can be easily done, but many times all the options can seem equally good or equally bad and it can be so confusing to choose. But how do we make these life changing decisions we are faced with? There are 3 Bible principles that we can rely on when we have to make a decision and that’s what we are going to talk about this week.
The first thing I want to encourage you with when it comes to decision making is- if you are actively pursuing God’s will and you are actively in His Word seeking His will- God will not let you miss it. If you are a child of God you now have a frame of grace that is your buffer as you walk through life with Jesus. We can read about this Proverbs 3:5-6, AMPC, “ Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.” When you are looking to Jesus and trusting Him with the paths of your life, you can be sure of His faithfulness to keep you from missing it. So you can rest in that.
The second thing that we can rely on when we are making decisions in life is that the wisdom of God is not hiding or trying to be subtle. The Bible says that wisdom is screaming to us! Let’s see what it says about this in Proverbs 1:20-21, AMPC, “Wisdom cries aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the markets; She cries at the head of the noisy intersections [in the chief gathering places]; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:” God does not want to hide His will for you from you. He wants you living the good life that He planned and proposed for you. Satan would love to lie to you and confuse you by leading you to believe that God’s will is hard to find. The enemy will try to get you distracted and confused so it seems like wisdom is hiding. But that’s not the truth. The Word says wisdom is screaming out and trying to be as visible as possible so don’t complicate it.
Lastly, go where the peace is. The bible says in Colossians 3:15, AMPC,”And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ's] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].” An umpire is responsible for making decisions and judgment calls in baseball. This verse is telling us that peace is to be the thing that makes the decisions and judgment calls in our lives. When you are faced with a decision, check your inside. See what you feel peace about. Peace is not always going to fall on the decision that is the easiest or makes the most sense. A personal experience I had with this was a few years back, I had a really good job that was being set up to be a very successful financially sound career. I had been with this great company for 5 years. I worked there through school and they offered me to stay on and train to take a very significant role for them. On paper it sounded like the perfect plan. I loved my town and being near all my friends and family. But on the inside I longed for more. I knew there had to be something else. I heard the Lord leading me to a church internship 8 hours from home, away from all that I knew. Not to mention it was little to no pay. I had gotten my degree and had an amazing job right after graduation. I was faced with a decision that neither option was necessarily bad, but was a hard decision for me to make. I didn’t dislike my life, but I felt “a leading” to more. I had to examine internally where I felt the peace was. Even though it didn’t make a lot of sense to quit the job that would make me a successful career and move 8 hours from home to an internship that had nothing to do with my degree and very, very little pay. I had peace in my heart that that was the right move. It was easier to stay, but the peace was not there. And it turned out that making that major life move was one of the best things I have ever done.
When I am faced with life decisions these 3 principles are what I use to navigate through that process. When you’re doing life with God and have a heart that is after His heart God is too good to let you miss it. Remember that wisdom isn’t hiding, it’s simple and obvious to you as a righteous person of God. And, also as a believer, you have God’s peace in you that is directing you in the ways that you should go. Don’t let decisions overwhelm you. God has equipped you greatly to be able to go through this life making the very best decisions possible so you can avoid the pitfalls and heart breaks that the enemy would like to bring along your path.
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