“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” – John 14:27 (NKJV)
We are more than halfway through this Advent season, my favorite time of the year. I love how everything slows down a bit as we wrap up the year, giving us the opportunity to spend time with family and friends. Most importantly, Advent is a beautiful time to reflect on the fulfillment of God’s promise for the world: the birth of Jesus Christ, which ushered in the possibility of reconciliation between God and every person on Earth. One of the defining characteristics of the birth is the peace that came into the world alongside our Savior.
In Luke 2:13-14, when an angel appeared to a group of shepherds, announcing the birth of Christ, it says, “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’” (Luke 2:13-14, NKJV)
With Christ’s birth, peace entered, and upon receiving Jesus Christ in our lives, we have access to this, but we must go directly to Him to receive it.
As we know, this life in this world is far from easy, and we have all gone through times where the idea of peace seems so foreign or unattainable. Sometimes we take matters into our own hands and try to manufacture peace for ourselves. The problem with this is that this kind of peace is more often than not contingent on circumstance, and thus, is fragile. But the peace we receive from Christ is the exact opposite. It remains, especialy in the face of trouble. In Mark 4:35-41, Jesus and the disciples were traveling by boat when a fierce storm came upon them. The disciples panicked, but Jesus slept soundly. When they woke Him, Jesus rebuked the storm, saying, “Peace, be still,” and the storm calmed. And He said to the disciples, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” The disciples, despite being in the presence of Jesus, were still in fear because they had no faith.
This story is so applicable to our lives, though many of us have never been in a literal storm at sea, we do still experience challenges in life that fill us with so much fear, uncertainty, and a lack of confidence. But just as Jesus was in the boat with the disciples during the storm and thus had no reason to fear, we too have no reason to fear so long as we put our faith in God. Faith is the key to accessing the peace that Christ provides.
Exercising faith can be difficult because it challenges our sense of control. It requires humility and the realization that, truly, we are not really in control. Yes, we have agency that God gives us, but it is ultimately through His grace that we can achieve anything. So relinquishing the desire to have total control of everything that is going on in our lives is key to exercising faith in God. One way to do this is through prayer and vulnerability with God, by consistently going into the secret place (Psalm 91:1-2), expressing all of our concerns to God, and being still in contemplation. We don’t have to go it alone. God wants us to rely on Him fully; He wants to be our peace.
As we get closer to Christmas and celebrate to birth of Christ, I encourage all of us to orient ourselves into an attitude of thanksgiving for the greatest gift we have received. Be encouraged that there is true rest in the peace that Christ ushered in to the world through His birth.
