Choosing Christ-Focused Peace During The Holiday

Photo by Greyson Joralemon on Unsplash

As my thankfulness swelled in me during the Thanksgiving holiday, my heart began to feel the surge of the Christmas season craziness. The annual holiday To Do list registered in my mind, and my heart started racing. I typed my list in order to not forget a thing and to begin seeking an opportunity to squeeze it all in during the normal busyness of my life. As so often happens, my mind did not focus on the reason for the season in the midst of the chaos.   

Fortunately, the Bible in a Year study landed me in some verses in the Psalms that remind me that I have the ability, with God’s help, to choose my focus and still my heart. As I pray every day on my knees, I ask God to help me control the chaos and find peace and joy in this season in which we celebrate the birth of His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Psalm 122:8

For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.”

As I read this verse, I notice that it does not say, “peace be with you,” which is a phraseology on which I lean heavily during my conversations with family and friends. It says, “within.” Maybe this is a sign that, despite the chaos around us, we can still have peace in our hearts. 

Psalm 131:2

But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, 

like a weaned child is my soul within me.  

Notice the first “I” in that verse. Peace is our choice! We can choose to let the mayhem consume us, or we can choose to manage it with His help. Every day during this special Christ-focused season, I remind myself that my heart should be celebrating the gift He gave us in His Son, Jesus Christ, and not be completely consumed by the stress of my To Do list. 

I wholeheartedly believe that finding peace during the holiday season pandemonium that our culture has habituated in our lives requires help from our Heavenly Father. The enemy wants us to think we can do it by ourselves because he knows we can’t. Thank God, we have access to a never-ending peace, love, and joy supplier. And, during this wonderful season, we bring joy to the chaos by asking for His help in managing the work and focusing our heart in thankfulness on Him and the blessings He has given us through His Son. 

When you are making your dozens of cookies for the endless Christmas cookie platter, what is your focus? Do you envision the joy these sweet treats will bring your loved one or do you focus on all the effort that creating them will take? Choosing your focus does help. 

When you consider the limited resources that you have, do you push the boundaries and overspend, or do you buy just what the resources God provided you will allow? Certainly, generosity does bring everyone joy for a moment but can result in anxiety when the first credit card bills start arriving. 

Do you tend to overfill your precious Christmas holiday time, or do you set boundaries about what is on your list? Choose carefully. Involve your loved ones in the difficult decision-making. And make the decisions that will bring everyone the most joy.   

I may have made these wise choices all sound so easy, but I know from personal experience that they are not. In fact, the only reason that I have raised these three suggestions is that these situations are routinely an issue for yours truly. I have found that I can ask for His help not only in making my decisions but also in finding joy in the outcomes. A large measure of that joy is generated when I focus on the special gift that this season celebrates and swell with jubilation about what His gift and sacrifice have made possible for all of us. Maybe a daily reminder of that Christ-focused peace is just what is needed to surmount the holiday season pandemonium. 

Dear Heavenly Father, I am so grateful for Your gift of Your son, Jesus Christ. As I celebrate His birth this Christmas holiday season, please guide my choices so that they bring joy to me and my loved ones and focus all of us on You and Your Son throughout this holiday season and our lifetime. Amen.