by Gloria Copeland
One of the functions of the peace of God—the peace Jesus left with us (John 14:27)—is to help us know the will of God and to help us make decisions.
Long before I had any instruction in walking in the spirit, the Lord taught me from the Word how to hear from Him when making a decision.
Colossians 3:15 in The Amplified Bible says, “Let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from the Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds].” That peace is in you, if you’re born again. When you have to decide between two courses of action, let the peace of God—or the lack of peace—in your heart act as umpire and make a ruling on which way to go. When you have peace, the deep peace that comes from your heart, you’ll know what to do. But if you don’t have peace, if there’s unrest in your heart, you’ll know you’re making the wrong choice.
I use this method frequently. When someone suggests I take a particular action, follow a certain direction or do something in a specific way, I stop, examine my heart and say, “Do I have peace in my heart?”
Sometimes a course of action looks reasonable, sounds like the intelligent thing to do, and may even appeal to me, but before I make a move, I endeavor to find out what’s in my heart about the matter. I always try to go with my heart. When I don’t, when I do something just because it looks reasonable or because someone else thinks it’s the right thing to do, I usually regret it. When I find I’ve made a mistake, and it’s obvious I’ve chosen the wrong way, I look back at what I had in my heart at the time. Usually, I find that I allowed myself to be talked into something when I didn’t really have peace in my heart about it.
It pays to go with your heart! The peace of God will act as an umpire, deciding and settling all questions that arise in your mind. Learn to listen to the peace or lack of peace in your heart before you decide on a course of action. When peace is there—go for it! But when it’s not, just wait until peace comes.
Let peace rule, and peace will be the outcome
© 1997 – 2024 Eagle Mountain International Church Inc. Aka Kenneth Copeland Ministries. All Rights Reserved.