This is the “season to be jolly,” but for many it can be very stressful. There is so much pressure to find the perfect gift and to repress ill feelings towards loves d ones, that secretly inside during the Season of Peace, steam is brewing and ready to release. Often people mistake the slogans “peace,” “joy,” and “hope,” to be automatic dispositions of our hearts, that during this season we will have these virtue well up in us and burn bright with little effort. But, as is often with the Lord, when we pray for peace we get trials to test the peace and force us to embrace Him who is peace, and when we pray for joy it doesn’t fill us via osmosis but we must look for what to be joyful about. We live in such insta-gratification world, that when we son’t feel what we want to feel or get the result we want effortlessly, we resort to our baser instincts.
The Holidays have dualistic effect on our hearts. They can fill us with elation, ad we remember the Christmases of yore, and they can remind us simultaneously how altered is the world of the present. Maybe a relative isn’t there for Christmas Eve dinner because they reposed or you aren’t on speaking terms. Perhaps you had a great trial, a bout of disease like cancer or an accident that had changed your day to day life and it is ever more evident to you at this time of year. Perhaps you use to go into woodland with your folks to get a Christmas Tree, but now are bedridden. Whatever the reason, the season can be at one minute glorious as you remember the good o’times and enjoy the sparkling lights, and the next hard to bear because of the changes that have taken place.
During this time of year, no matter how pleasant and jolly our Christmas is turning out to be, we need the Prince of Peace to draw near, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 6:9). That peace is s lifeline even in the best of times. We are inclined to believe people are happy or hurt, depressed or passionate, but the truth is even in our greatest moment of joy we can feel pangs of hurt. It is possible to feel two diametrically opposed feelings, hence the old saying, “I love her, and I hate her,” or “we have a love hate relationship.” So even those who belly laugh and seem to be perpetually merry, deep down they have a need for divine peace. Some of the greatest comedians have had horrible home lives and pasts, and when ask to a drama, they can convey a deep and dark night of the soul.
We are in need of peace even when we seem to others all together and composed. The Apostle Paul tells us that we must let Christ’s peace reign in our hearts m, “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” (Colossians 3:5). I love this passage, to let Christ rule our hearts with His peace, which surpasses all understanding, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7). We often talk about a “heavy heart,” and to say, let “The peace of Christ rule in your hearts,” is the antidote. For Christ lives in us (Colossians 1:27, 1 John 4:15) and He can administer peace over our hearts if we but ask Him (Matthew 7:7, Matthew 21:22).
We need the Prince of Peace daily to help us in this turbulent world. Even during the holidays, we need the Holy One to give us peace and not as the world gives, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27). For we are promised tribulation, but Christ overcomes all trials, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). I will confess I struggle with this, anxiety and stressors assail me like waves, and I have to remember, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7). It is easy fo preach peace, but to reach out to Christ and caste your anxiety on Him, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you,” (1 Peter 5:7), is not always our default. Often we can resort to panic when problems and trials beset us all about. Entering into Emmanuel’s peace requires a choice, when you want fo scream, praying instead and closing your eyes and seeing Christ there and letting His peaceful presence swallow up your troubled heart.
I am not going to challenge you to be more peaceful this Christmas season. That would actually engage your flesh and make you stressed about not being at peace. What I do commend to you this holiday season is when terror, anxiety, and fear beset you like Herod’s soldiers, that you open you lips in prayer and if you cannot be still enough to see our Lord in the quiet, then memorize and write out, and post a sticky note somewhere you can see, “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,” (Colossians 3:15). Say over and over when you feel oppressed and stress, if you want personalize it “And let the peace of Christ rule in my heart.” Amen.
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