Let peace rule and be thankful

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. – Isaiah 26:3, esv

Who is really in control of your life? He who calmed the storm that threatened the disciples’ fishing boat? Or have you allowed the storm to trouble you, forgetting that His presence in the boat is far more important than the storm that has darkened the sky? Have you noticed that when you view something day after day, week after week, you pass by whatever it is but fail to observe it? It’s there, but it just doesn’t show up on your radar. After a while you look but see nothing.

I couldn’t help thinking of that recently when a brass plaque showed up on my desk, adjacent to my computer. The message? A verse from Paul’s letter to the Colossians that reads: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts...  And be thankful!”

Wondering where it had come from, I picked it up and placed it in a prominent place where I began meditating on it. “Where did that plaque come from?” I asked my wife. She didn’t know either. Then a few days later, I glanced at the wall to notice that a wooden base, slightly larger than the brass plaque, was hanging from a nail with some dried glue on it. Then I remember the brass plaque that I found sitting on my desk, leaning against the wall. It had simply fallen from the wooden base and landed where it got my attention.

I confess that I began focusing on the message that had gotten my attention.

Sometimes we need reminders of what we already know. Perhaps God allowed the brass plaque to drop off the wooden base held by a nail on the wall, but I can tell you it got my attention and reproved me for allowing stuff that is inconsequential and unimportant to rob me of His peace.

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Used with permission from Guidelines International Ministries. To learn more about Guidelines and the ministry, send an e-mail to [email protected]. You may also visit www.guidelines.org.