The Second Sunday of Advent

   As we continue our advent journey in preparation for the birth of Christ let us take this second Advent Sunday and seek the peace promised by His birth.  During the coming week let’s focus on the peace God offers.

   If we are honest we must recognize that our world can never provide real peace.  There will always be wars, disturbances and troubles in our world.  We can never overcome the results of sin in a fallen world such as ours.

   Jesus came to give us peace.  Not the false hope of peace or the partial peace that can be achieved in today’s world but the peace of God.  The peace that God intended us to have from the beginning.  The peace that Jesus can give.  The peace found when the Holy Spirit dwells within us.  The peace that is the promise of the new born King we await.

   Have you ever noticed that some people can face most anything yet retain their inner peace while others get angry and frustrated at anything that upsets their vision of peace?  Some face terrible disease and even death but are at peace.  The peace of God is in their hearts.  Others feel they’ve been cheated and unfairly treated by God for every small difficulty that may come along.  The difference is the peace promised by Christ if we accept Him into our hearts and give our troubles over to Him.  He will take whatever difficulty we may suffer and give us the strength, love and mercy to deal with it while still maintaining the peace that comes from knowing Him.

   This week let’s inventory our lives and see what is hampering our inner peace.  Once we determine the cause let’s turn those things over to Jesus and ask for His help in dealing with whatever cross we may need to bear.  Let us pray for the peace that only He can give.

Lord, we let our troubles get in the way of our peace.

We forget that You are the only source of true peace.

The peace this world offers is false and a lie.

Help us to rely on Your peace; the only peace we need.

Amen