Advent: The Presence of Peace
“How am I supposed to have peace when my life is such a mess?” “….when my child won’t talk to me?” “…when my loved one is gone forever?” “…when the world is so filled with darkness?” These are fair questions. I’ve asked them. You may have too. Or someone close to you has – or is asking them right now. In his Messianic prophecy, Isaiah foretold Jesus would be called the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). In their majestic announcement of Jesus’s arrival, the angels proclaimed there would now be “peace on earth” (Luke 2:14). When Jesus was departing this earth, he left his disciples with this encouraging message: “I…
Waiting: An Advent Devotional
I don’t like to wait. For anything. And since I rarely practice it, I’m not very good at it. You won’t find me waiting in long lines to get into a popular restaurant or camped out for the release of a new tech device or a movie premiere. Simply put, I’m impatient, and waiting feels like a waste of time. And I’m not alone. It’s hard for people in contemporary culture to wait for things. Like me, people are busy checking off to-do lists, cramming in meetings and appointments, rushing through experiences to get to the next thing. We are bombarded with messages telling us to hurry so we don’t…
Choosing Calm in a Season of Sheltering
[A Guest Post by Nancy Reece]I went for a walk yesterday and was singing Raise A Hallelujah at the top of my lungs. The words of the song – I raise a hallelujah, with everything inside of me; I raise a hallelujah, I will watch the darkness flee, I raise a hallelujah, fear you lost your hold on me – brought peace and calm in the middle of this season of fear and panic in our world. CHOOSING PRAISE OVER FEAR About two weeks ago, I wasn’t exactly experiencing calm. On Thursday March 12th, when we were aware of the virus and a couple of days before things went crazy at the grocery stores, I came home and told my husband…
