Let Peace Rule

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 108, Let Peace Rule.

Colossians 3:15 — take this in:

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful."

That word — *rule* — is not suggestion language. It is throne language. Paul is not asking you to consider peace as one option among many. He is commanding it to reign. To sit at the highest place in your heart and govern what happens there.

So the question this verse puts to you this morning is plain and direct: who is on the throne of your heart right now? The peace of Christ — or the panic of the moment? Because those two do not reign together. One rules, and the other has to yield.

In the original Greek, the word translated "rule" comes from the image of an umpire — the one who calls the game, who makes the final call and it stands. Think about that. Before every decision you face today — before you send that message, before you make that call, before you react to that situation — there is an umpire available inside you. His name is peace. If something in you closes down, tightens, fills with dread when you consider a direction — pay attention. The umpire is making a call. If something opens up, settles, grows quiet — that path is clear.

But here is something we cannot rush past: Paul is not only talking about inner peace. He says — *in one body*. The peace Christ gives is not meant to be hoarded privately while everything around you burns. It is meant to live between us. At home, with the people you love and who are sometimes the hardest to love. In community, in the church, among brothers and sisters who see things differently than you do. We were *called* to this. It is not optional — it is our vocation.

And then Paul does something beautiful: he ends the verse with thanksgiving. Not by accident. A grateful heart is the soil where peace takes root and holds. When gratitude is present, panic loses its grip. Gratitude does not pretend there are no problems — it remembers there is a God who is larger than the problems. And it is in that remembrance that the peace of Christ finds room to reign.

Because the peace of Christ is not the absence of storm. Jesus never promised the wind would not blow. He promised He would be in the boat with you when it did. His peace stays. It does not flee when things get hard — it shows up right there inside the difficulty. That is what makes it unlike anything the world can offer.

So today, before breakfast, do this one thing: stop. Name out loud — or in the quiet of your heart — the biggest worry you are carrying today. Don't push past it. Hand it over. Place it in Christ's hands in prayer. And then be still for just a moment. Let His peace make the call. It will speak. You will feel it. That is the umpire at work.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.