Let Peace Umpire Your Life

“Our right relationship with God is an unreturnable gift. That truth is a balm to my soul.”

“Let your heart be always guided by the peace of the Anointed One, who called you to peace as part of his one body. And always be thankful.” Colossians 3:15 TPT

I don’t know about you but there are times in the life of my family when we have not let peace guide our interactions (can I get an amen?) In our house there seems to be an ebb and flow to which kids are driving each other nuts. It’s always two, maybe three, but rarely none. And in those times, it’s easy for me to react to constant bickering instead of responding from a peaceful place. But the Word is a treasure and speaks to my heart simply and practically. Check this out. In the Greek, “guided” literally means “to umpire.” Maybe your kids are in ball so you’re familiar with an umpire’s position. Their job is to watch the players, what’s being thrown and to govern the plays, settle disputes and make sure the right rules are upheld. An umpire is the final word. 

In our lives, that “ump” is the peace between us and God, given through Jesus.

Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, there is peace in our relationship with the Father. I know sometimes the enemy works to make us think that’s too good to be true. We still catch ourselves striving or hiding or comparing, but whether we feel it or not, our feelings don’t change Truth. There is no score being held, no debt over our heads, no disappointment in His looks…there’s nothing left to earn. Our right relationship with God is an unreturnable gift. That truth is a balm to my soul. It calms me and sets me free to follow His lead. And that truth is our umpire. 

Our Father tells us that we have to lean on that peace to govern our minds, keep our hearts from disorder and our souls from anger. Our actions and interactions are to be ruled by the fact there is peace in our most foundational relationship and so we can bring that to every other relationship; our spouses, our kids, our coworkers, and other believers in His body. Our Umpire gets to make the call on how we respond to our husband’s humanness. Peace gets to magnify the root of our frustration so we can hold it up to Jesus. Our ump gets to rule that we respond to bickering with the same calmness we’ve been given. All we have to do is be willing and abide in Jesus. For that I’m forever thankful.

Action Steps:

• So what do we do with this truth? Any change we set out to make, any obedient desire, starts in God’s presence. We can’t do anything without His help and His leading. So let's start by thanking God for the peace He provided for us to live out of. 

• If you’re in a place where it’s a struggle to feel peaceful, admit it to God who always wants to hear the truth of your heart, ask for His help to believe the Truth that you are at peace with Him irrevocably, and ask for His help to live out of that place and offer peace to others. 

• This week write “We are at peace” on a post- it note and put it somewhere you’ll see it frequently so that it can remind you to take a deep breath and respond to others out of that Truth.

Written by Brooke, a uniquely unqualified momma