Peace on earth. It’s part of the message of Christmas.
I get it wrong.
When things are calm and all the pieces are in place; when I see check-marks on the to-do list; when there are no interruptions and things are going the way I planned; early in the morning in my favorite chair with my coffee and Oswald Chambers; I call that peace.
That’s not peace. That’s peacefulness.
Peace is when the bottom falls out, you’re scared, nothing is working, you can’t believe they think that about you, this day will never end, you’re not going to make it, and hell is frozen. And you aren’t freaked or angry or resentful. You feel the potential for panic, but you don’t give in to it. The storm is on the outside, the calm is on the inside.
It’s not peaceful but there’s peace.
That’s the peace of Christmas. That’s the kind of peace Jesus came to bring.
Peacefulness depends on circumstances.
Peace depends on my trust in the absolute adequacy and sufficiency of Jesus for every circumstance, problem, fear, emotion, interruption, project, and relationship.
Of course, you can have both together. But sometimes it takes lack of peacefulness to prove peace.
I hope you experience more peace than peacefulness these days.
