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Peace and Thanks



By John Lysaught

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“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful” (Colossians 3:15, KJV).

I was reading and came across this verse in the Bible. It is so simple, yet so powerful to me. Let God rule your hearts and be thankful. This sums up a lot of things for me. It got me thinking about what I am and not at peace with and what I am thankful for as well as where my heart is on a lot of different things in my life.

It made me think of where my heart is today. Is it really peaceful, is it loving, is my heart thankful? I can say it is most of the time. I feel the peace of the Lord in my heart, even in times of trouble. My heart knows that God is control and I need not worry about anything. What I know and what I feel though are sometimes at odds with each other.

I have a tendency to get stressed out easily over the little of things and the biggest of things. I know I shouldn't because I recognize that God is in control, but nonetheless I do. I guess it is a flaw of my personality but I’m working on this aspect of myself and probably will for a long time. At the end of the day, I do feel the peace of God that rules my heart.

When it comes to my salvation, I have great peace in my heart. I know that I’m saved. I know I will go to heaven with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I’m not worried about that. I think that this is the greatest thing to have peace about, to me at least. Yet at the same time I sometimes don’t feel peace about the things happening to me in my daily life and happenings that are part of everyday living. The daily living stuff is my challenge. I’ll discuss some of the major things I’m not at peace with.

I worry about my kids and what is going on with their lives and their salvation. I lack the peace that I should have regarding their salvation and how they live their lives. I don’t know what is in their hearts, what is truly in their hearts regarding Jesus. I know that they know what to say to me when I talk to them about Christ, but what is really in their hearts, I cannot discern very well. I pray for peace in my heart that their salvation is secure and I’ll be with them in eternity.

I struggle and worry with what will happen to my two oldest kids who will graduate this year and how they will survive in the world and the worldly ways away from our home. Will they slip and fall? Will they turn from the Lord after being introduced to what the world has to offer? They are young and will be faced with real world troubles and temptations that I recall facing and falling into when I was their age. I pray that they hold fast to the teachings and examples my wife and I have shown them as they grew-up.



I stress about my job. As a federal worker, we are faced with cuts and layoffs and furlough days. We live well below our means thanks to God and can weather financial storms well enough that we won’t starve or lose the roof over our head, but I still stress about that. I know I should have peace in my heart from God regarding this, but as I said before, I’m a worrywart and am not there yet. I pray for the peace of God to know that I will always be taken care of (me and my family).

I worry about my health. I have poor health with a litany of health problems. I worry about how my health will deteriorate, as I grow older and how long I will live. I hope the Rapture occurs sooner than later so I don’t have to worry about my health anymore, but for now, I’m not at peace with my health. I have not come to terms completely with the problems I have and every time I go to the doctor, I seem to get diagnosed with yet another problem. I try my hardest to be at peace with my health problems and to accept that I have them for a reason unbeknownst to me─that God has allowed me to be burdened with these problems for His purpose. I pray for peace of heart with my health problems and to allow God to work with them through me to gain others for Christ.

Enough of the negatives: I want to turn to the positives and what I’m thankful for in the peace of God in my heart. My thankfulness is so much greater than all my worries and my peace of heart and thankfulness out number my lack of peace in so many facets of my life that I cannot list them all here without boring you to death; so I’ll just talk about the top thankful things in my mind today.

First and foremost I’m thankful for Jesus. What Jesus did for you and me on the cross is the most selfless act. I’m so very thankful for His grace and sacrifice on our behalf so we can spend eternity with Him. His selfless act is the most thankless gift, which I am thankful for. I have peace in my heart that He is real and His act of being a sacrifice for us is true. I give praise to the Lord!

I’m thankful for grace. Without grace I’d be doomed. Every day I seek out and need grace. I make mistakes and poor decisions in my walk with Jesus, but through His grace, I’m forgiven and can receive forgiveness daily. Without grace I would be a withered weed with no hope of salvation. I thank the Lord every day for his grace and He knows I need it every day to renew my relationship with Him─as I walk on my path of salvation. Thank you Jesus for your promises.

Even though I have poor health, I’m thankful that I can still work for the Lord. Even though I struggle with coming to terms with my illnesses, I'm thankful and have peace in my heart that God has a plan for me and it will be revealed to me in baby steps or one day in actualization of a revelation. I know I can relate to others with health issues and can use that sympathy and empathy to bring people closer to the Lord and to help them in their walk with the Lord, that no matter how bad things may be, peace of heart can be attained and salvation can be assured regardless of health.

I’m thankful for my family and my job. Even though my kids push me to the edge of sanity, I love them all dearly and want only what is best for them. They are truly a reflection of God’s grace, and they challenge me, unknowingly, to work on my walk with Jesus so I can better emulate the love of God. In this horrid economy, I’m thankful that I have a good paying job and I can support my family to ensure all their needs are met. Thank you Jesus for helping me be a good father and that I am employed.

I’m thankful for the Bible. Without the Word of God, I wouldn’t have a roadmap to salvation. The Bible gives me revelations every time I read it that helps me understand the Lord better and to guide me on my walk with Jesus. The Bible is my crutch, which I use when I need to get closer to the Lord, because reading about Him, His life, His teaching, and His guidance, gives me hope and energizes and inspires me in my walk with Him. Thank you Jesus for your words and guidance as put there by you for me.

What about you? Do you have the peace of God in your heart and are you thankful? Have you ever reflected on your status of peace and thankfulness? If you haven’t, try it. It is a great exercise to see where you stand on a number of issues in your life; what you should be thankful for and what areas of your life you may need to work on for the peace of God and thankfulness. I know by thinking and writing about this I have a lot of work to do in many facets of my life, but overall I have an overarching faith in my peace with God and being thankful for Him and what He has and will do for me.

If you don't know the Lord, you are lacking in the peace He can give you. Having the peace of God in your heart is a great feeling. You will feel secure and sure that Jesus is real and He wants you for His own. Your worries will be lessened and your assurance in eternity will be strengthened. How do you get this peace, this assurance in your heart? To get this you need Jesus. You need to accept Him as your Lord and Savior.

Jesus died for you and me by taking our sins upon Himself, so that if we accept Him as our Savior (that He died for our sins), we can live in heaven with Him for all eternity. I believe everyone wants to go to heaven, and to get there the only way is through Jesus Christ. Please accept Him. Time is short. Every day is a day closer to you meeting Him. Learn all you can about walking with Jesus and living your life for Him and through Him.

God Bless.

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Zechariah 12:3,9:
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people; And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
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