Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.ESV
THREE-WAY TEST OF INWARD WITNESS(B)
When I was in the wrong relationship back in school, I never experienced peace for one day. Deep within, I felt an emptiness and it was as though I was all alone. I was forcing myself to stay in a relationship that God didn't ordain for me. I could be in a crowd but I felt alone and empty. My spirit was saying I should quit but my mind was rationalising that I stay. After months of struggle, I heard a very clear instruction from God as though someone spoke to me audibly. I quitted and my peace was restored. After testing the received inward witness with the word of God, the peace test is another virile method of testing the witness we have in our spirit. In previous teaching, I described inward witness using the traffic light. Red means stop while green is a sign of progressive movement.
If God is involved in the leading you have received, from within your spirit-man, you will experience absolute peace that no man can explain. Your mind may oppose the leading you have received based on physical realities and information but deep within your spirit, you will know that it is the way to go. Isaac must have felt this way in Genesis 26. Everyone was relocating for greener pastures but he stayed back because of God's instruction. God can lead you into a business that everyone is complaining about because of harsh economic realities. Your mind would point you to how similar businesses collapsed and what experts are saying about it but from within your spirit, you will have a peace that cannot be explained. That's how it works. Another example is marriage. God may lead a brother who is not rich or doesn't have a good source of income yet to you. Your friends maybe telling to quit the relationship but deep within, you're at peace with him and you have faith about a glorious future together.
However, peace must be tested with time. There is a false peace that comes from the devil. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid"(John 14:27). There's a worldly peace or demonic peace. If you don't pray in the spirit long enough over time, that peace may remain and you'll think it is from God. You can test the source of this peace by prayer and patience. I must say that it is not wise to act quickly on a perceived leading until it properly tested. Godly peace is sustained over time and it remain in our spirit as a conviction that cannot be doubted. It doesn't vanish. In fact, with time, it grows stronger.
CONFESSION: Father, I thank you. I am in you and you are in me. I open up the channel of my spirit to receive direction from you and to be lead by your spirit in Jesus name