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...]."The umpire in a ball game decides if you are in or out. Peace is to be the umpire that decides if a thing should be in your life or out.
(Col. 3:15 AMP)
Many people do not enjoy peace because they are out of the will of God. They follow their own will rather than God's will. They do what they feel like or what they think is right rather than following God's Word and being led by peace.
Quite often something comes up that I want to do. It sounds good, feels good, and can even be a good thing. However, if I do not have peace, I have learned to leave it alone. Be led by peace.
Do not buy something especially a major purchase, if you do not have peace about it. No matter how much you want it, you will be sorry if you go against the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Occasionally I will be offered an opportunity for a speaking engagement that I would like to take, but I do not have peace about it. I do not know why, but sometimes the peace is just not there. I have learned that if I take it anyway, a reason always turns up regarding why I should have followed peace.
One engagement I remember was when I first started traveling. Speaking engagements were very few and far between. Naturally, I wanted to take them all. I received an invitation to a church in Texas.
That was really exciting for me at the time. I said "Yes!" right away. A couple of weeks later, I got this gnawing on my insides every time I thought about it. It got stronger and stronger. I just plainly had no peace about going, and yet God gave me no reason why.
I waited and waited. Finally, I knew I had to call them and ask for a release from the commitment. I told them I would come if they could not find a suitable replacement, but for some reason, I had no peace about going. They did release me from the commitment.
A few weeks later I found out that my home church was dedicating their new building the weekend I would have been gone. I had been an associate pastor in that church for quite some time before starting my own ministry and it was very important for me to be with them on that occasion.
Why didn't the Lord just tell me what was going on? For some reason, He chose not to. His Word says to be led by peace. Many times that is all He will give you to let you know if you are "in" or "out" of His will. Later you may know why, or you may never know why.
You will never enjoy a peaceful life if you disobey His leading and follow your own will.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers