And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7
It’s not the carols in the stores that tell me Christmas is coming. Neither is it the Christmas trees or the lights that illuminate homes all over Sydney in this season. What announces that Christmas is here more than anything else is the breaking new stories that we hear on the airwaves every hour.
‘Fatal Accident on the Hume Highway’. ‘Seven car pileup in Harbour Tunnel.’ ‘M4 at standstill as Paramedics race to scene of multi-car accident’.
More than anything else, these headlines signal the approaching Christmas celebration. They herald the beginning of the season of stress. They announce the time of personal struggle, aloneness, pain and suffering that so many feel at this time of the year. As December 1 ticked over, it’s like someone flicked a switch and everyone’s stress level increases, patience decreases and anxiousness intensifies. It’s so evident on the roads and I haven’t even ventured near a shop yet.
It is a busy time of the year. There’s end of year celebrations and performances at schools to attend. Speech nights and ballet performances, musical concerts, carols events, and break up parties that have to be fit in and ticked off. There’s high level family ‘negotiations’ about where Christmas lunch will be held, and who will buy presents for whom. Then there’s the financial worry that results from trying to fulfil expectations of others and give them the ‘tis the season to be jolly’ fix. On top of that, there is still the pressure to finish off everything at work and meet the deadlines before offices shut down for a few days or weeks.
This is the season where people are pulled in every which direction, being stretched further and further emotionally, relationally, financially. It’s a season where people’s minds are so full of what needs to happen that we should not be surprised by the diminished concentration levels. There’s no time to process, no space to find perspective, no rest for overloaded lives and consequently lives which are frayed at the edges begin to completely unravel, tempers flare and lives are filled with suffering and pain as people reach breaking point.
This is a time of the year when we need peace more than any other time. When anxious minds need stilling, when frazzled lives need calm, when busy lives need rest, when distorted lives need perspective.
Our God gives us exactly what we need n this time of stress. He gives the gift of peace. Peace is like a rubber band which holds our lives together when we feel they are unravelling or coming apart. God’s peace is what brings us back to rest when we feel we are being pulled and stretched in every direction. God’s peace keeps us safe when our lives are overloaded and calendars full. His peace enables us to find perspective when we are consumed with the grind of daily living. It turns our hearts and minds into fortresses which protect us from the assaults of stress, fear and anxiety.
Are you longing for that peace in your life? Are you sick of living with stress and needing a different perspective to live by?
You will only find that peace in the promised Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. If your life is in danger of unravelling, come and let Jesus bind you with his everlasting love which will never break, no matter how stretched your life feels. Let him draw you into his presence where you can fully rest in his peace. Let him bless your life with perspective by showing you what truly matters and let him calm your worries and fears as he declares his love for you again. In his presence, all your Christmases have already come!
Prince of Peace, come and fill my life with your unending peace. Amen.