Peace at Christmas

 “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 9:6

Paris. November 13, 2015. A soccer game, a popular night club and cafés where Parisians gathered to enjoy a normal, Friday night in Paris. So they thought. Seconds later, the sound of gunfire and bombs rocks the City of Light. Over a hundred people died that night; a night of terror and destruction.

            Shocked, the world watched in horror as Parisians fled in panic. Fear had overtaken their city so suddenly, so unexpectedly. Like a flood, it quickly spread throughout the city and overflowed into all of France. Unable to contain it, the tidal wave of fear seeped across the oceans and all across the world.

            San Bernardino. December 2, 2015. Fourteen lives lost to two assailants who riddled the Inland Regional Center with bullets. Unimaginable pain and loss for the families who lost loved-ones that day. A day of terror, leaving fear in its wake.

            Fear; a short, simple four-letter word. Yet it packs the punch of a dozen sticks of dynamite. It can make the strongest man cower and the most powerful quake at the knees.

            Fear. It’s never summoned and always unwelcome. It knocks at the door of every human heart. It is persistent, relentless and cruel. It leaves no one untouched, not even our children. Everyone can become its victim. It is the devil’s number one weapon against mankind and he uses it as a weapon of mass-destruction. There’s nothing he wants more than to us cowering, caught in a net of distress, wondering if we or our loved-ones will be victims of the next disaster that might strike our world.

            It is especially hard to witness such scenes at this time of year, when we ought to be celebrating joy and peace, instead of death and disaster. Yet God reminds us that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to bring us the peace our world so desperately needs. A peace that is like no other.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to 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).

            Notice God utters the words “do not” twice in the second part of this verse. It’s an imperative, not a suggestion. “Do not fear” means do not answer the door when fear comes knocking. Do not invite it in, do not allow it to make a home in your heart and in your mind. Don’t let it rule your life.

            Peace is not the absence of darkness, but the presence of light. Christ is that light, a light that came into our world on Christmas morning. “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12.)

 If we ask God to fill our hearts with his light and his peace, there will be no room for anything else. Then, we will be able to experience true joy and peace at Christmas time.