“And he will be our peace.” Micah 5:5a

“If God be our God, He will give us peace in trouble. When there is a storm without, He will make peace within. The world can create trouble in peace, but God can create peace in trouble.” Thomas Watson

 

• The Prince of Peace loves to give us good gifts. Ask Him to gift you with His calming presence as you read His Word today.
• Read Micah 5:2-6 and take note of the chaos that, in order to be ceased, required the promise of Jesus’ birth.

Peace Speaks the Impossible Truth

What if you had the ability to experience life and handle situations with a constant peace rooted in a bold truth? With this new lens, you might dare to imagine outcomes that end better than you could have hoped on your own. You might find a peace that speaks truth over your situation.

When I was a girl, I was chatting with my mom one day about school and how the worst thing I could possibly imagine was having to sit down at the table and do my algebra homework. She nodded and smiled gracefully until, finally, carelessly tossing the dishtowel onto the stove, she turned sharply to face me from the kitchen, her normally sleek hair frizzed around her flush face as her urgent eyes met mine.

“Elise. I need you to listen,” she said and clasped her hands together to silence my chatter. “Your dad went to the doctor today, and he is in stage three of kidney failure. In stage four, he will need to start looking for a transplant.”

Noticing my lack of a reaction, she prodded, “Honey, are you worried?”

I’d heard of and expected the kind of worry that cuts off words and turns the world around you into an impression-less hum, but panic and uncontrollable worry were far from me. In that moment all I knew was peace, a peace that told me: sickness would not harm my dad. And I now know that the peace of God was what made me fearless in the face of my dad’s health concern; God gave me this peace knowing I would need to be the voice of hope for my family.

The journey of peace on earth began in the belly of a teenage girl who believed what God had told her. The prophecies of years before, of the ultimate ruler of Israel who was to come (Micah 5:2), honoring the glory of His Father and redeeming His creation, were truths affirmed by a bump veiled in thin garments hardly capable of concealing an immaculate miracle such as this (Luke 2:35). This miracle was a gift to us:

“For a child is born to us. A son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end.” (Isaiah 9: 6-7)

Digest this picture with me. The birth of Jesus was one built up by many prophecies; the prophecy lived on as it was told to God’s people through countless years of suffering and rebellion; and it came to fruition in a moment of an unprecedentedly miraculous announcement from the angel Gabriel to a young, faithful girl. All this to precede the birth of a baby born in righteousness: born not to use His power and prestige to condemn us (John 3:17), but to bring us peace among other things.

Brought up in this manner, no wonder it is a peace “which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). Only Jesus, who was brought about by such radical circumstances, can bring us this radical peace, a peace never-ending.

Only this peace will calm us to an almost unnatural point: it will tell us the bold truth that we can believe in our seemingly hopeless situations. A girl who hears her dad’s health is failing can trust in the healing power of God because of this peace. A mom whose family is struggling can pray for a steady, unified family because of this peace. A woman can live without fear of tomorrow because of this peace.

If we believe that everything about Jesus’ birth is miraculous and bigger than ourselves, we must also believe that the peace He intended to bring with Him is miraculous and big enough to control our dispositions and hopes in the face of any problem. These new hopes become the foundation for a radical belief in truths that we would have previously dismissed as impossible, a truth like the one I believed as a small girl.

What I believed to be true about my dad and his sickness was ultimately proven. Sickness had no power over my family: the Lord healed my dad! The doctors couldn’t explain it, and although amazed, I wasn’t surprised. The peace of God was in control of this situation from the moment I knew about it, and that allowed me to pray bold prayers and instill words of hope in my family.

Blessings and Love,

Elise

Questions to Ponder

• How can a God, born to bring peace to a whole nation, not bring peace to the situations of those who ask?
• Have you allowed your prayers to be hindered by worry, your hope to be clouded by all-too-present concern about your impossible or difficult situation?

Faith-Filled Ideas

Ask for God’s peace to “guard your hearts and your minds” (Philippians 4:7), and use this security of the mind and heart to believe boldly and pray bold prayers about situations in your life and your family.