Have you let Christ prepare your heart for peace this year? Me, I have learned some broken ways. After many years of trials and difficulties, I have learned to wait for the next bad thing. I have placed my hope in my ability to prepare for the worst. I have sought peace in perfectionism, in making a beautiful home, in chocolate…

My thought-life can be a little cray-cray sometimes. There are days that I have to pray without ceasing, just to keep my glass half-full. Jesus died to give me peace…but I give that gift away too cheaply, too easily.

This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—
that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

Acts 10:36, NLT

Peace with God. What a gift! That is Good News. Nothing else compares. Nothing else is enough. When I turn my mind and heart toward peace with God—what relief! I want to live in peace, always. But that seems impossible, not with these memories, not with these fears.

Yet, the truth is that change doesn’t take as much mental effort as I often think it does. In fact, it is pretty simple:

• Guard your heart (Prov 4:23).
• Think on these things (Phil 4:8).
• Let God transform you (Romans 12:2).

Let Christ Prepare Your Heart for Peace

Advent is the time to grow hope. So this is new for me: I am holding onto hope. I hope for peace out of chaos. I hope for love over selfishness. I hope for freedom from anxiety.

I have begun to see hope in unexpected places [tweetthis]I have begun to see hope in unexpected places![/tweetthis]. I see that folding clothes demonstrates the hope that we will all be here tomorrow, to wear them. Washing dishes demonstrates the hope that new meals will be prepared and eaten together. Driving children to music lessons, and ballet, and martial arts demonstrates the hope that we can all learn new skills and go deeper and farther than we ever knew.

Advent is the time to practice active waiting—to stay patient with God’s timing, be pleased with His plan, and cultivate a pursuit of Him. God’s mercies are new everyday (Lam. 3:23). Sometimes we just want to race on the new, because the old is hard. The in-between can be the painful place. But He has us here—wherever “here” is—for a reason, for His purpose. I am learning to wait, so I can fulfill His purpose for me in this place [tweetthis]I am learning to wait, so I can fulfill His purpose for me in THIS place.[/tweetthis].

Jesus came to give us the gift of peace with God, peace with others, and peace with ourselves. He is a peace-maker. He makes peace where there is none! He takes turmoil, washes it clean, and prepares a new purpose for it, so it can walk in newness of life.

Pray with me: Lord, break up the fallow ground of my heart. Sow seeds of peace there that will return a hundredfold harvest. Bless me Spirit, so I can become a blessing. Amen.

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