Watch for the Light Advent Devotional
Week 4 ┃ Advent Peace
By Sheila Sekela
This year at South Elkhorn our Advent theme is Watch for the Light, and this is the Peace week of the traditional Advent Season.
The last part of my drive home takes me down a narrow road that has a creek flowing right next to it; the trees create a canopy as they touch each other overhead. I love that point in my drive, and I can feel myself become more peaceful in that beautiful tunnel that signals I’m almost home.
Walking into the barn in the evening, I can hear the horses munching away on their hay, the soft sounds they make as they nose through it looking for the best morsels punctuating the steady, contented chewing. Usually my mare will lift her head and look at me for just a minute, and again I am peaceful.
Sometimes I am at peace. Sometimes, far more often than I would like to admit, I am not. But a day is coming, my friends; a day is coming when the peace Christ-followers experience won’t be fleeting.
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.” (Isaiah 9:6-7 KJV)
My brothers and sisters, I can hardly wait for that last part! When Christ comes in glory and finally establishes His kingdom, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away . . . I am making everything new” (Revelation 21:4-5).
What a wonderful promise! I don’t know about you, but in the face of all the injustice and suffering in the world, even right here in our city, at times that future Kingdom is all I have to hold on to. “Compassion fatigue” is a real thing, but this promised future of justice, mercy, and healing can keep us tender in the here and now. We can pour ourselves out for each other as Christ did, “for the joy set before us.” (Hebrews 12:2)
Christmas is a wonderful time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but remember the promise of His return as you look at nativities and sing carols. That future hope is how we can have peace now, as we await the complete peace that is coming. My prayer for you is that you would enter that peace today and every day, secure in the sacrificial love of Christ.
(Adapted from A Week, A Month, A Year: A Collection of Devotionals for Meditation through the Seasons)