Read Isaiah 9:6-7
The Israelites were promised a king who would bring a reigning nation of peace. And to them, ‘peace’ didn’t just mean a lack of war.
Peace was deeper.
It was Shalom. Shalom was for a country, yes. But it was also complete and harmonious relationships among others. And most importantly, inner peace with God.
Shalom wasn’t just for a moment and it wasn’t lacking. Shalom was complete. It was whole. No more brokenness, only wholeness.
It was the world…right, finally.
That’s what they were promised.
And that’s what they longed for.
For my mind, peace is best visualized when I think of where it does not reign. I recently visited Galveston, TX just a few short weeks after it had been hit with the devastation and destruction of Hurricane Ike. Could you even fathom the lack of inner peace?
Knowing that your home was rendered to a pile of rubble, your employer no longer exists, food and water are scarce? Your future, your very existence is questioned- daily.
Now translate that inner turmoil, that chaos inside, into your relationship with God. The resulting feeling, the desperation to be saved… that is what the Israelites craved when they heard they would receive a Prince of Peace. What will you be craving this holiday season?
God, give us peace in a world of uneasy…give us uneasy in our worldly peace.
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