Prince of Peace
“Peace is a person.”
When peace seems nowhere to be found–not in my body, not in my mind, not in my heart (not even in the world!), thankfully, John reminds us that, “...God is greater than our hearts…” (1 John 3:20).
The full verse reads: “If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”
So, what does peace look like? What does it feel like? What does it sound like? Jesus.
Easy to rattle that off, but harder to impart. During Christmas there are so many words about Jesus. Do those words hold weight for us? I’m thankful it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict and bring revelation.
Habakkuk 3:2
For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
It will certainly come
and will not delay.
To me this means that we can count on God’s timing: even for peace.
Putting together the imagery of the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians and the idea that “There is a time for everything under heaven” in Ecclesiastes, I see that I can be patient with times when fruit is yet to be born. Fruit I want now. Peace I want now–when I walk into a holiday party and all I sense is a buzz of anxiety. The peace I want in a friendship. The peace I want in my own soul about future plans. Peace I want in hearing from God. Peace that seems nowhere to be found in old family patterns that have yet to be dismantled.
It’s worth considering if peace is a feeling at all! Maybe sometimes, it’s an absence of feeling. Perhaps peace is a much loftier thing than we ever thought–greater than quiet, greater than harmony. The Creator of those things. If peace is a person and that person is flipping a table in a temple, what of peace then?
May the Prince of Peace give us a deeper, fuller, richer knowledge this Christmas about who it is that we are dealing with exactly! Majestic King of Kings. Almighty God. Everlasting Father. Alpha and Omega.
Prince of Peace, will you bring peace into our hearts like never before? Will you bring peace into our practices like never before? Teach us your peace! You say to “Seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14). May we be a people tenaciously seeking peace, finding it, giving it out and encouraging our community in that quest. Amen.
