O Come, Immanuel: Journey Of Peace

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah 9:6, (NKJV)

Hello Dear Friend,

Hope! How long had it been since Sarah had felt genuine hope? She couldn’t remember. Maybe it was because she hadn’t realized until now that it was something that had been missing from her life.

She knelt before the Lord in the abandoned sanctuary and poured her heart out in prayer for the first time in forever. “Jesus, I’m so sorry! I turned away from You for so long. My focus has been everywhere except for one place – the most important place. I’ve failed to focus on You! Ironic really, seeing how I seem to have a fear of failure and yet I’ve failed the only One that matters. Please help me! I’ve been so busy pushing myself and preparing for my future that I’m not enjoying the here and now, I’m not living in my present. I’ve been overloaded with stress and anxiety of my own creation and now I see that I’m overwhelmed by the weight of it all. Please forgive me. I submit to You and give You control over everything in my life especially all the things I’ve been trying to micromanage. Thank You, for opening my eyes to Your presence and for reminding me that You are the perfect Lamb of God. Thank You, for the hope that You’ve given me. Thank You, for meeting me tonight in this little church and for reminding me that I’m a daughter of the King of kings and that my inheritance is in You and not earthly obtained. Thank You, for the peace and rest that You give. Amen."

Peace, that’s what Sarah was feeling as she finished her prayer and opened her eyes. Her face was moist from the tears that had been spilling out during her prayer of surrender. She wiped them off with her sleeve and sat there in the stillness for a while basking in the presence of the Holy Spirit. She could feel Him, her Heavenly Daddy was embracing her as if she were the prodigal son returning home. She loved the feeling. She had forgotten what it felt like and she had no idea how desperately she had needed to feel His presence again.

An hour or so had passed before Sarah gently closed the wooden door of the old stone church behind her. She was exhausted; mentally, physically and spiritually but it was the good kind of exhausted that kind that comes when you feel like you’ve truly stripped yourself clean of things that have been hindering you and preventing you from being your best. As she journeyed home for the evening she wondered just how many times she had past that little church over the past few years. What was it, three blocks from her apartment building give or take? It was crazy for Sarah to think that all this time she past that church ever day to get to and from the office and had paid no attention to it at all.

Yearning For Peace

“For He himself is our peace.” –Ephesians 2:14, (NIV)

Shalom – the Hebrew word for peace is a term that speaks of completeness and soundness. In other words, it’s perfect peace which is impossible except through God. Every human heart has yearned to go back to how it was after the dawn of creation, before the consequence of sin and separation that stemmed from the fall of Adam, our hearts yearn for peace. Not just any kind of peace, we yearn for perfect peace. We yearn for the peace that only comes through our Creator.

Like Sarah, I think how often I’m too busy trying to keep up with life that I fail to live in the peaceful presence of my Heavenly Daddy. It’s easy to do yet hard to realize that we’re lost in the restless discontentment of our own creating. Take the past couple of weeks for instance; I’ve been struggling to find rest and peace of mind so much so that it’s affecting my sleep and even causing a bit of insomnia. I’m exhausted, I’m noticing brain fog and at times I’m even struggling to form the right words to what I’m trying to convey.

As one who has always carried other peoples stress, I’ve recently felt the tension coming off of others. I sense their anxiety and the outpour of stress coming off of them and I can’t help but pick it up and carry it as if it were my own. Maybe it comes from being a peacemaker and wanting to help make other’s feel better if I can or maybe I just don’t handle stress as well as I think I do. Either way, I put on a smile and push through, trying to hide my exhaustion as best as I can.

Peace. Our hope in the Lord brings us peace. We crave a connection to our Creator, to our Heavenly Father, to our Lord – the God of heaven and earth. Jesus, we crave Jesus. He is the link that binds us to God. He is the one who brings us true peace in this fallen world.

Some of us have lost our way this season. Maybe you have forgotten what hope feels like. Maybe you’re struggling to find peace this season. Maybe your journey has taken a detour and you’re trying to find your way back home. Maybe your soul craves the light of the world and you’re finally open and ready to let Jesus fill your heart this Christmas. Wherever you are, I pray you find peace this season.

A Prayer For Peace

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.” –John 14:27, (NLT)

Precious Jesus, the temptation comes so easily to us to live without peace. Too often we struggle to remember that we are Your children and our peace is ultimately found in You. Please reveal to us the restlessness we feel when we aren’t focused on You. Forgive us, Lord for all the times when we’ve fallen into the world’s distractions that have striped us of Your peace. May Your peace drown out the noise and may our minds and hearts be set on You. Help us remember that you are the Prince of Peace and our security is found in You alone. Remind us that Your peace is everlasting and that it exists regardless of what our circumstances look like. May our hearts and minds be open to You this Christmas, may you teach us how to live in peace every day. In Jesus name, let it be so.

With love,

a Poetic Soul