How to Have a Peaceful Christmasنموونە

Peace Under Pressure

I think we sometimes misunderstand God’s peace.  We think of peace as sitting by a quiet lake with a cool breeze blowing when all is well with the world.

But the peace that Jesus gave us (John 14:27) is not for those few-and-far-between times when everything around us is peaceful:  it’s precisely for the opposite times when our circumstances aren’t peaceful! It’s for when we’re under pressure, or there’s no peace to be found.

When you’re driving in traffic at rush hour and the kids are yelling and hangry in the back seat, and you need to get home by a certain time, but you wanted to stop and buy a last-minute gift first-  except that you don’t have the money for it... that’s a time when Jesus can give you peace!

When you’re lying in bed at night and your mind is racing because of everything that happened, and everything you need to get done, and everything that could go wrong – that’s when God wants His supernatural peace to descend on your heart and mind. 

When people all around you are stressed, or there’s too much to do, or you don’t have enough, or you get a bad report, or a crisis happens — those are the times for which Jesus gave us His peace.

So think about that supernatural peace. This is the peace, the good news that the angels brought to earth on the day Jesus was born -- a savior had come! Supernatural peace had come to earth. God’s peace, His restoration of perfect fellowship — wholeness — had come to make its home in the heart of whosoever would believe on Jesus.

So when you find yourself in times of stress, remember that. That’s how to have God’s peace working in your life – at Christmas and always. Remember that you are perfectly loved, perfectly reconciled to Almighty God through Jesus Christ. Wholeness (God’s peace) has been given to you. What an amazing gift!