Would anyone else here define the current state of the world as insane? Take a good look at the state of the world right now. The Middle East is still at war all over the place and America is just standing in the center this time. Korea wants massive nuclear devices. The United Nations keeps trying to shut their nuclear programs down so they cannot bomb us into oblivion. Extremists bomb buildings and kill people almost daily. Yet, if you examine a little closer, on a smaller scale you will find even more insanity. America has become increasingly liberal and dangerous. They worry about foreign invaders and terrorists and yet forget the need to have a strong family base. A family is a father, mother, the children if any and God. How is your family? Maybe just getting to church today felt like insanity. Get the kids up, get the kids dressed, get the kids fed, and then finally you have to put them into the car and drive to church. I can only imagine how much insanity that creates. It would be great to have world peace, but peace at home needs to come first.
VIDEO: Peace on Earth?
Even the Christian in this video seems to have some doubts about finding peace in her life. Honestly, I too have had massive bouts with lacking peace and begging God to make life stop quaking. I have since learned several valuable lessons from one verse in the Bible. Today, I want to talk to you about our theme for this year, Colossians 3:15. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which you were indeed called in one body; and be thankful.” I ran across this verse in my devotional time and it honestly took on a totally new meaning to me. Peace isn’t when we don’t have any stress or trouble. I define peace as “having tranquility regardless of outside influences.” This means having an internal state of peace even though your life feels chaotic. Yet, so many times everything seems to dominate our thoughts, time, and energy. It is pretty hard to have peace when worry, children, messy house, broken down car, medical bills, and a million other troubles land in our laps. Godly peace can give you just that. The stress and pressure will still exist but God can provide you with an internal peace beyond understanding. Take possession of peace! I want you to see four significant parts of taking possession of peace.
First, you must choose peace. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Did you catch the very first part of Colossians 3:15? The verse starts with “Let the peace…” What does that mean? I sat down to talk with Stacy one day to discuss this sermon and she wondered, “Is peace a choice or is it just given to us?” I mentioned this part of the verse and she came to the same conclusion I had. Peace is a choice. This verse says that a person must let peace happen. I decided to check another verse or two just in case I was misinterpreting this verse. Philippians 4:6-7 say, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Again, it seems that we as people have some role in whether or not our lives are peaceful. This text gives a command to talk to God about our troubles and give up our worries. Then, God will send peace.
When I wrote the newsletter article that sparked my quest to understand and attain peace, I was deeply struggling with the demands on my life. Every one of you demands to have decent preaching that speaks to your needs and struggles and helps you live your life. There were and are many other demands that come with the job. There were my familial demands. My wife deserves some of my time and every ounce of love I can give her. I don’t want Mayah to feel like Daddy is always gone and never spent time with her as a child. I have to be a father and husband as well as a Christian and a minister. Let’s just say I was very frustrated, stressed, and upset. I kept running the scenarios in my head, over and over again I thought about those who had added to my stress. “Can you do this?” No, I’ve got fifty million things to do. At least I thought that, but I would do it to make them happy. “Have you got this event planned out?” No, I didn’t even know it was my responsibility to plan that event. Something had to change! I kept thinking it was everyone else.
It’s not everyone else placing their demands on you. Yes, people tend to do that no matter who you are or what you do. It’s you placing the demands on yourself. I had made a choice to get upset and to take the whole world on my shoulders. I had made a choice to let things get to me. I wasn’t frustrated at everyone else. I was frustrated at my inability to live up to my own expectations. Then I read this verse during my morning devotional time. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which you were indeed called in one body and be thankful.” The very first thing I noticed in this verse was that peace was a choice. I had to let peace into my life. What about you? Do you feel the same way I did? Does stress and frustration seem to dominate your thoughts sometimes? Do you sit gritting your teeth doing your best not to explode? You need to make a choice. How? I sat at my desk and just kept telling myself to give it up. I still sit every day getting frustrated. While I was writing this sermon I was about to throw my computer out the window. So, I wrote down everything on my heart and threw it into the trash can. I said, “God you can have this stuff. I don’t want it.” That is how I make myself choose every day. Write it down and throw it all away and tell God He can have it.
Secondly, you must make peace with Christ.
Choosing is only the first part of this equation. I would say choosing is 25% of dealing with the problem. The next 65% is solely based on making peace with God to have peace in Christ. Colossians 3:15 continues by saying, “Let the peace of Christ rule your hearts.” Peace is all well and good but if we want a lasting peace we need to look to a certain someone, Christ. The person makes the next part even more valuable. This “peace of Christ” must rule your hearts. Knowing Christ helped me immensely here. This text doesn’t just refer to the location of where to peace but also what must happen with the peace once it is found. The word rule could be thought of as an umpire at a baseball game. The umpire makes the calls. He calls the strikes, balls, and foul balls. He states whether the player was safe at the plate or out. Every call can and should go through the umpire. He is there to rule the game. So that peace we choose must come from Christ making the calls in our lives. Christ has to be the umpire of this crazy game we call life. He must make the calls on all the frustration and stress.
One day a man went out walking in the woods. He really wasn’t paying much attention to what was going on around him or to where he was. He was just walking aimlessly through the forest. As he walked he came to the edge of a sharp cliff. Like I said, he wasn’t paying much attention to where he was going and he walked off the edge. Now, if you ever watched any of those Saturday morning cartoons where Bugs Bunny or some other such creature walks out onto the air and sees where he is and turns around and walks back, that’s a lie! There isn’t anything out there but down, as our hiker found out. He went down. But, to his surprise, much like some of the old Saturday morning cartoons, there was a big branch sticking out on the side of the cliff. Some how, he managed, as he was falling, to stick a hand out and grab that branch. It must have been a really funny sight; this guy was just hanging there from his branch. He realized that he was in a real bad bind and wouldn’t be able to hang onto the branch indefinitely. He started to yell, “Help! Is anybody out there?” Soon a soft voice from the sky answered him, “Yes, I am here.” The hiker says, “Who are you?” The voice says, “I am God.” The hiker then asks, “Can you help me?” God says, “Yes, I can help you. Let go of the branch.” The hiker hangs there for another minute and then yells, “Help, is there anybody else out there.”
We seriously do this with our struggles and frustration. If you know Christ, you have a wonderful advantage in life. He wants to take all your trials and struggles. He wants to umpire your life. He wants to call the shots on what He will allow to bother you so that you will grow. “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Everything wants to invade your time, energy, and life. Christ wants to protect you from all those stressors. Yet, instead of taking God’s help when he offers it, you choose to ask for someone or something else. You choose to try and deal with it on your own power and with your own patience. You reap what you sow. Your power and your patience isn’t enough. You children can prove that over and over again. You know this and that is why you get so frustrated. How do you let God call the shots? Good question. First, is Christ your Savior? Secondly, is he the most important thing in your life? Those are the best places to start. If those are true, filter every decision through Christ. Remember the WWJD bracelets? How would Jesus handle that situation? Read your Bible! You can also write God a list of things you cannot handle right now and leave it for Him. You can tell others by it all you want but until you tell God about it, no one can help you.
Thirdly, you must connect with your church family.
You see peace is a choice. It is a choice to give up your right to those frustrations and give them to the one person who can do something about them. Peace comes from Christ and Him only. He won’t just take them from you. You have to give them to Him. The last two pieces of this text tell us that our church family and our attitude can also have an affect on our state of mind and our search for peace. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful.” You, Christian, were brought into the body of Christ. You are a part of Christ with every other true Christian. We all go through the same struggles in life. Someone here can probably relate to your struggle. They may not know exactly but some have had heart surgery. Some have had knee replacements. Many of you have children and struggle with how you are going to raise them to be good Christian adults. We have a parenting study on every other Friday starting the 11th. The second session will be this Friday. You have a lot to be thankful for as well. Christ is just one of them.
Let me tell you, having loving Christian friends and finally finding peace has helped me become a more thankful person. This isn’t a command God is giving but a reminder of who helped. I am very grateful to have such a loving church family. If we were in a bind and told you about it, I have no doubt that someone would help. When I get frustrated and just need to talk, I know at least two or three of you I can count on to at least listen. That brings me some comfort, especially knowing that someone else out there has the same feelings as I do about so many struggles. This may sound silly but I have someone to laugh with and cry with when I need to do either.
How much would you give for that if you didn’t have it? So many people don’t have that kind of connection with others and would give almost anything to have it. Maybe you feel the same way. You may be wishing for peace and feel you can find it by going to others with your problems. I hate to say it but that is only a temporary solution. These last two pieces only add up to 10% of the equation. They are a fraction of the other two. Yet, if you can get the other two (choosing to have peace and giving Christ control), then these two will easily become invaluable. Knowing that others are with you can give you a great sense of peace which can make you very thankful. The more grateful and less selfish you are, the more at peace you will be.
I hope you learn something from today’s message. I hope you will stick with me this year on this theme. I want this year for us to be a year where we learn to have real peace. Peace that exists during the storms of life; real peace. You must accept that there are some things that cannot be controlled and stop trying to control everything you think you can. All that frustration and stress will not just magically disappear but throwing up your hands and giving up doesn’t help. Yelling at your spouse and your children doesn’t help. You must make a choice to stop! You must make a choice to accept Jesus and let Him take control. Let Him call the shots! How do I do that? 1) Sit down and write out what is stressing you. 2) Pray and tell God to have it. 3) Take and destroy that piece of paper. 4) Tell some you trust about your struggles and decisions. 5) Thank God for being faithful in taking it for you!
