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Peace through Surrender
by naomi Cassata Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body" (Colossians 3:15). I can't help coming back to the Peace of Christ. Maybe because so many of us lack peace in our lives. For years I lacked it myself not really knowing the full meaning of it. Fumbling upon this scripture, my main thought was, "How do you allow the peace of Christ rule in your heart?" Saying it is one thing, doing it is another. Peace doesn't just happen. The word "Let" stood out to me. Was it really up to me? Often when God wants to teach us a lesson from His word, we go through something that disturbs that area of our lives that we have not submitted to Him. As you can guess, it was my heart's lack of peace. I represent the 1% of women in the United States that doesn't like to spend money. Yes, it's true. There I confessed it. I DO NOT LIKE TO SPEND MONEY! I wish I could say it was because of my godly content character, but really it comes down to the fact I am a tightwad, a penny pincher, frugal, or whatever you want to label it. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying it's not fun to buy things, but there is a bit of guilt that comes with spending money on things other than the basics. I like to dump as much money as possible into savings and see the numbers rise every month. I remember before I was married, I worked as a legal secretary for three years between the ages of 21-24; during that time, I saved a whopping $10,000. I remember stopping at taco bell with my friend and looking for the cheapest items on the menu (2 tacos), and I absolutely refused to waste any money on a coke! Water please! Some of that cheap thinking is still in me, but definitely not to that degree. Recently my husband wanted to take a large percent of our savings and do some things around the yard that I thought were ridiculous. What a waste of money, I argued. I was so agitated inside about this that anytime I thought about it, the madder I became-the more my peace diminished. Around that time I came upon this scripture, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." I began to meditate on it and realized there is a place in every believer's heart that is waiting to be occupied. We have to choose who we will allow to rule it. I was obviously allowing my heart to be ruled by my own ideas, my own will, my own love of money, and it showed with my attitude. Our attitudes are always a reflection on who is sitting on that throne. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how much I esteemed money. Thinking I was a good steward managing our money so well, in truth it was ruling me. I never want to hold money as more valuable than the peace of Christ. I finally surrendered the situation to God. I gave Him the reigns to my heart and dethroned all the others. Peace flooded my soul again. Yes, my husband did use the money after all, but that's ok. I'm actually glad because it took that situation for God to open the eyes of my heart to see what was really hidden there. The peace of Christ is ruling my heart and nothing is worth forfeiting that for. Now I will be a better steward of what holds my heart. When the tide of my attitude and peace changes, I'll know that I've allowed something else to come in and take over. Solomon penned it well, "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life" (Proverbs 4:23). http://www.lampformyfeet.com/ Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |