I usually begin around Thanksgiving thinking about how I will wrap up the year in my Christmas Eve post, and this year was no different. I began mulling over the year and thinking about what next year will bring. I considered the two beautiful lives growing in my belly, the handsome little 3 year old who never ceases to make my heart soar, my faithful, nurturing, and protective husband, our family, our church, our friends. So many things to be thankful and grateful for. I also considered the ways this year has challenged us. A year spent without my sweet Mimol in it, the loss of sweet friends and our faithful pup Matilda, the overwhelming heartache of infertility, the marathon challenge of IVF, the work I've done in counseling, the ever present (yet quickly coming to an end in 2019) "loose ends" of medical school, financial challenges, and the inevitable growing pains of "adulting" and parenthood. Through the final weeks of this year...even while considering all of those things...the Lord has continually given me a word to live by. He keeps putting it on my heart, in the mouths of those around me, illuminating it in His Word...
That word is PEACE...
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid..." John 14:27
"For to us a child is born, unto 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 9:6
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world..." John 16:33
"The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace..." Romans 8:6
"If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone..." Romans 12:18
"So then let us do all we can to live in peace and let us work hard to build each other up..." Romans 14:19
Over, and over, and over again...even while these final 5-6 weeks of 2018 have been challenging in so many ways...God has reiterated PEACE. He has directed me to pursue it...literally RUN AFTER IT. It is so easy, especially in the world we live in, to get wrapped up in the turmoil of life. It's easy to let things like stress and grief and anger and uncertainty rule your mind. It's easy to let your emotions lead your actions and reactions and forget the deep seated and everlasting Wellspring of Peace that exists in all who know Him. Even in the midst of confusion and uncertainty...HIS PEACE IS CONSTANT. Even when the world slaps us in the face with things less than desirable...HIS PEACE IS CONSTANT. Even when it feels like everything is falling apart...HIS PEACE IS CONSTANT...
Prince of Peace. In my world right now, that name for Jesus translates to the Commander of my Quiet. My safe place. The person of Jesus Christ, who is alive and well in my life, commands the quiet of my soul, of my mind, of my heart. He oversees it. He directs it. And his entrance into this world as a baby depicts that about His nature...
He didn't come as a ruling, reigning king draped in expensive robes and sitting on a gold encrusted throne. He didn't come and force everyone to bow to Him. He came as a helpless baby. Born to a young mother, a peace seeking father, in a crude stable, without any special treatment. Why?? He certainly had the power to have incarnated Himself however he chose. Why did he choose this mode of arrival? What did He hope to communicate through His birth?
My answer to that question today is that I believe He wanted his entrance to this world to echo PEACE. To echo QUIET. To echo SIMPLICITY. To echo RELATIONSHIP. To echo STRENGTH IN VULNERABILITY. "I do not give as the world gives..." What does this say about his birth? That He wanted us to SEEK Him. He wasn't going to come even as Israel was expecting Him to. He wanted us to pursue His Peace, His Quiet, His Simplicity, a Relationship with Him, and His Strength even in His Vulnerability as a newborn baby. He provides it as a perfect gift we do not need to earn...however we MUST SEEK IT OUT. The easy thing to do is to live in AND of this world. To be ruled by our "flesh". The hard thing to do...the challenge of our faith...is the pursuit of the Spirit in a world that has forgotten who He is. Where some don't even recognize that He's walked this earth and already conquered all the darkness within it. In a world where His final victory is downplayed...mocked even. It is EASY to operate as though He did not "leave His peace with us". But what a treasure when we can actively seek and find that Wellspring of Peace...that Daystar...that Ever Present Help in Times of Trouble...
He is faithful. He is constant. He doesn't change with the ebb and flow of our circumstances. He doesn't operate on our plane (thank God!). He is above all things, beyond all things..BETTER THAN ALL THINGS! And through His birth, life, death, and resurrection, He has made Himself AVAILABLE to us always. Reachable. Relatable. He knows MY name. He knows who *I* am. And He loves me ALWAYS. Even (and maybe especially) when I don't feel all that lovable. I am priceless. Even (and maybe especially) when other people communicate that I'm disposable. I am royalty. Even (and maybe especially) when I think I'm not worth the dirt I walk on. Because I am the daughter of a KING...
A King who came to this earth as a baby, walked this earth as a blameless man, hung on a cross for the sins of this world, and rose again in PERFECTION...all because I MATTERED TO HIM. *You* mattered to Him too! You are important, loved, priceless, and worthy of love and sacrifice!
This Christmas, I pray you will PURSUE His Perfect Peace. Allow Him to Command your Quiet. Let Him guide you into this New Year with a renewed since of your own worth to Him...
He came as a baby, but He will return as our Conquering King. Let Him be that Conquering King in your heart, mind, and soul NOW! Merry Christmas my friends. JESUS is the reason for the season!
