Today is the second Sunday of Advent.
On this day and for the rest of this week, you and I are invited to ponder the gift of peace.
Not just the peace suggested by a cold winter day with snow on the ground, but lasting peace -- the kind that comes from above, from heaven.
A cursory look at our world tells us why peace ought to be one of the nicely wrapped presents under our Christmas tree:
Wars rage on in this world
Political conflicts are on the rise
School shootings are featured in the media
Family feuds bud perennially during the holiday season
Angst and fear are regular guests in the inn of human hearts
. . . Yes, we need peace.
But where is peace?
And yet the promised One says,
"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."
Jn 14:27, ESV
The world may define peace as the absence of trouble but the Word teaches us that peace is found in God who "is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble" (Ps 46:1). This peace is not elusive or illusory; it is different from the world's definition. It suggests that, when situations and circumstances seek to derail us, it is our hope in the Coming One that will cause us not to fear.
The psalmist says it this way, "Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea . . . The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress" (Ps 46:2, 7).
Because His name is Immanuel, He can say to us: "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going" (Jn 14:1-4, ESV).
Yes, peace is a present.
God's peace is free for the taking.
Freedom is unwrapped when peace rules in human hearts.
What a gracious gift to our oft-troubled hearts!
May you and I receive His gift fully today!
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