Peace in your heart

I read a beautiful devotional today that spoke about the inner 'knowing', otherwise called peace. The result? Your heart is calm, free from confusion. It highlighted that when you walk closely with the Lord, He will guide your decision making...in His timing. See Romans 8 v 6.

From the 'Word For Today'...

When your thoughts, actions and plans are approved by God, He’ll confirm it by giving you an inner ‘knowing’. (See 1 John 2 v 20) The Bible says: ‘Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]...' (Colossians 3 v 15 AMP). When you trust the Lord with your life and all that lies ahead, when you’re being led by [Him], you’ll [experience] a sense of peace even in the midst of difficult circumstances. His peace is like a baseball umpire who decides what’s ‘safe’ and what’s ‘out of bounds’ for you.

But beware of false peace. Sometimes your desire to do a certain thing will be so strong that it will actually produce a false sense of peace that comes from your own excitement about the idea. As time passes this false peace will disappear and God’s true will, will emerge. So wait for it. As a rule you should never move too quickly on important decisions. The Bible says, ‘To be controlled by the Spirit results in… peace.’ In other words, to be guided by the Lord will result in decisions made with a sense of calm, and not confusion. So don’t proceed if your inner peace can’t hold its weight against what you think or hear. You don’t have to explain to others why you don’t have peace about it; indeed, sometimes you won’t know why. Just say, ‘I feel it’s not wise for me to do this at this time because I don’t have peace about it.’...or 'It doesn't feel right', which indeed it won't because without the Lord's peace, making the decision without His 'green light' can induce feelings of tension.

There’s power in having peace. And one more thing: once you know that you’ve heard clearly from God, do all you can to keep your peace and don’t become anxious. The devil will throw 'red herrings' into your thoughts to throw you off course.

Let me encourage you, God's timing is not our timing, and often we will have to wait some time for Him to answer our prayers and heart's desire, and thus receive His peace. And while at the time and during the course of waiting, things can seem unsure or confusing. Be reassured that He has heard you and that He will answer your prayer, but not necessarily in the way in which we want it to be answered nor in the time frame we want and expect Him to answer it.

*non-italic text within the devotion are my additives, as are the emphasised words.