"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace—and be thankful."
I'm discovering in my present trial, you really learn to be thankful for something once you no longer have it.
The operative words in the above passage from Colossians 3:15 are "let" and "be." These words are verbs. You have to choose to act on the imperatives given in this passage. "Let" the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. And "be" thankful.
If we truly are letting the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, then being thankful will be the natural result. I'd go so far as to say, you can't truly be thankful, unless you are letting the peace of Christ rule in your heart.
You simply can't have one without the other.
Letting the peace of Christ rule in your heart means that you have acknowledged that God is sovereign over everything that happens on earth, and nothing is happening in your life unless God allowed it, or directly caused it. You accept God's Lordship over your life, and you have gladly surrendered every area of your heart to Him—knowing that without Him—you can do nothing. (See John 15:5)
You have invited Him in to take His rightful place—seated on the throne of your heart—trusting Him to manage every aspect of your life.
If, in the midst of your extremely painful trial, you can faithfully proclaim, "True and righteous are your decisions O' God", then you are letting the peace of Christ rule in your heart. And the fruit of His peace ruling your heart will be to turn and thank Him for everything you have—and yes—even thanking Him for the extremely painful trial—knowing He has a purpose for allowing you to go through it.
If, on the other hand, the fruit of your lips constantly says things like, "My job sucks!" then the peace of Christ is not ruling in your malcontent heart. And while it may or may not be intentional, what your words are really saying to the Lord is, "God, I am NOT thankful for this job that You have given me, and I do NOT trust You to manage my life!"
Sound extreme? It's meant to be.
God hates murmuring.
Sound extreme? It's meant to be.
God hates murmuring.
He hates complaining. He hates unthankfulness.
Consider the malcontent Israelites, who, having been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years, were miraculously delivered through God parting the Red Sea. However, not long after being miraculously delivered from bondage, they began to murmur and complain: "We're sick of this manna from Heaven, why doesn't God give us some meat!?" "We need water to drink! Did God bring us out into this wilderness to kill us!?" (See Numbers 11:1-6).
After their constant complaining, what did God finally do? He let them wander in the desert for 40 years to try to soften their hard, unbelieving hearts. Sadly, most of them would not believe in God's promise to them, and they chose to continue to harden their hearts against God.
The end result—they died in a wilderness of their own unbelief.
Consider the law of sowing and reaping in your own life.
There are consequences to everything you do. If you are getting passed over for a promotion at work because your attitude sucks, or you got fired for your bad attitude—you are reaping what you have sown. And God is allowing you to go through the difficult trial that you have brought upon yourself. If you have liver disease because you drank heavily and partied for most of your life, you are reaping what you have sown.
Now, your response can be thankfulness to God—because you are letting the peace of Christ rule in your heart—or, murmuring against God—because you have hardened your heart against Him.
You decide.
But here's the deal: God will not force you to let the peace of Christ rule in your heart. He will not make you be thankful to Him. No, just like He did with the malcontent Israelites, God will let you wander in the wilderness of your own hardened heart, for as long as you choose to let it remain hardened.
You have to choose to let the peace of Christ rule in your heart and be thankful.
Now, here's God's amazing grace for you: for those 40 years that He let the Israelites wander in the desert, He was still with them. And He sustained the clothes on their backs, and the sandals on their feet so they could still survive. (See Deuteronomy 29:5). Think about that! Would your clothes and shoes last for 40 years of wandering through a desert? I think not.
God was still with the malcontent Israelites, even though they hardened their hearts against Him. All the while, for those 40 difficult years He was right there with them—waiting for them to turn their hearts back to Him—to believe what He had promised them, and to trust in Him.
But they still chose to harden their hearts against God.
What about you?
"Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. (Hebrews 3:7-9)
What will you choose today?"
—God is Love and Love Never Fails.
Consider the malcontent Israelites, who, having been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years, were miraculously delivered through God parting the Red Sea. However, not long after being miraculously delivered from bondage, they began to murmur and complain: "We're sick of this manna from Heaven, why doesn't God give us some meat!?" "We need water to drink! Did God bring us out into this wilderness to kill us!?" (See Numbers 11:1-6).
After their constant complaining, what did God finally do? He let them wander in the desert for 40 years to try to soften their hard, unbelieving hearts. Sadly, most of them would not believe in God's promise to them, and they chose to continue to harden their hearts against God.
The end result—they died in a wilderness of their own unbelief.
Consider the law of sowing and reaping in your own life.
There are consequences to everything you do. If you are getting passed over for a promotion at work because your attitude sucks, or you got fired for your bad attitude—you are reaping what you have sown. And God is allowing you to go through the difficult trial that you have brought upon yourself. If you have liver disease because you drank heavily and partied for most of your life, you are reaping what you have sown.
Now, your response can be thankfulness to God—because you are letting the peace of Christ rule in your heart—or, murmuring against God—because you have hardened your heart against Him.
You decide.
But here's the deal: God will not force you to let the peace of Christ rule in your heart. He will not make you be thankful to Him. No, just like He did with the malcontent Israelites, God will let you wander in the wilderness of your own hardened heart, for as long as you choose to let it remain hardened.
You have to choose to let the peace of Christ rule in your heart and be thankful.
Now, here's God's amazing grace for you: for those 40 years that He let the Israelites wander in the desert, He was still with them. And He sustained the clothes on their backs, and the sandals on their feet so they could still survive. (See Deuteronomy 29:5). Think about that! Would your clothes and shoes last for 40 years of wandering through a desert? I think not.
God was still with the malcontent Israelites, even though they hardened their hearts against Him. All the while, for those 40 difficult years He was right there with them—waiting for them to turn their hearts back to Him—to believe what He had promised them, and to trust in Him.
But they still chose to harden their hearts against God.
What about you?
"Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. (Hebrews 3:7-9)
What will you choose today?"
—God is Love and Love Never Fails.
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