Advent Peace in Uncertain Times
It would seem my daughter has inadvertently started a new Christmas tradition. Every night, in between the time she finishes her dinner and our bedtime routine, she excitedly requests to go look at the lights in our neighborhood. So either my husband or myself will get bundled up, get her in her snow gear and head outside for a chilly walk through the lights.
Each night as we begin our walk, she grabs my hand and says “Ok mama, we’re going to go to this house first, then we’ll go to the house with the penguins, and then if there’s time, we can go look at the biiiiiiiiiig snowmen.”
I chuckle every time. In part because it’s pretty fun to see her get so excited over the same lights we have now seen about 20 nights in a row, but also because it would appear I have passed down my neurotic planning side to my 3 year old.
I have always been a planner. I like to know what to expect. If I enter a situation without a plan, I usually feel out of control. I like order and routine.
If only we lived in a world that would hold to my standard.
In the last couple of years, we have all experienced a collective degree of uncertainty. When COVID-19 first started, the world was blanketed with 1,000 unknowns. Life as we knew it had shifted. Workplaces looked different, family gatherings halted, and no one really knew what this virus was capable of. While things have since returned to a degree of what they were, the uncertainty remains.
It remains because it’s been with us since before the pandemic began. It will stay with us well past the days when coronavirus is only mentioned in history books rather than everyday conversations. While the degree of it may vary, uncertainty is a certain part of our every day life.
It was even there with Mary when the birth of Jesus was foretold. Take a look with me at the angel’s announcement:
“And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:28-33
Mary was given an unbelievable promise. She, a virgin, was going to give birth to the Savior of the world. The prophecy she received was glorious, awe-inspiring, and breathtaking. And while she knew the end of this crazy journey she was about to start, a thousand unknowns came with it.
We see that “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered” (Luke 2:1). This meant a long and strenuous journey for a very pregnant young girl. I doubt that was something Mary had expected. We all know the actual birth of Jesus was far from glamorous - I can’t imagine ‘manger’ was a part of Mary’s birth plan. We even see in Matthew that an angel of the Lord warned Joseph to flee because Herod had begun a search to kill this infant king (Matthew 2:13-15).
What must have been going through Mary’s mind? Since the moment she had received the glorious promise that came with the birth of Jesus, everything seemed to be up in the air. Her pregnancy disrupted by unexpected, mandated travel, the birth of her baby in an unfamiliar, dirty place, the arrival of her son met with murderous intentions - this was the way the Messiah would enter the world?
And yet the promise of salvation through Jesus Christ never faltered.
You and I also hold firm to a glorious promise. Remember the verse we began this week with:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27
Jesus has left us his peace. He left us with a promise that he has gone to prepare a place for believers in heaven and that he will come again for his children (John 14:1-3). He has sent the Holy Spirit as our helper as we wait for his return (John 14:15-18). The peace our souls have with God is an eternal promise. So…
“…we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
In the midst of uncertainty, we can rest in the promise we have in the peace of Christ. When jobs are up in the air, we can rest in the peace of Christ. When our own health or the health of the loved one is declining, we can rest in the peace of Christ. When disaster takes our home, when relationships fall apart, when a worldwide pandemic strikes, we can rest in the peace of Christ.
Uncertain times will mark our lives this side of heaven. Whether globally, locally, or in our own hearts, we are usually surrounded by a thousand unknowns, big and small as they may be. But the believer holds a promise that stands firm through it all. Christ has left his peace with his children. This forever promise is strong enough to sustain us as we approach heaven’s shore. And when the promise is fully realized? I am certain these uncertain days will become a distant memory as we begin our eternity in glorious presence of our King.
