"It Came Upon a Midnight Clear"

In 1849, a time of industrial revolution and growing tension regarding the issue of slavery, with war on the horizon, Edmund Sears wrote a wonderful Christmas carol. He was then pastor of a small church in Massachusetts. The first line follows:

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the Earth
To touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the Earth! Good will to men,
from Heaven's all-gracious King!"

Peace was then, even as it is today, something so very rare. Yet, it is one of the many gifts that God intended for us in the sending of His Son on that very first Christmas. Just before Jesus was arrested and crucified, he met with His disciples and promised them peace in the midst of life:

“I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. But when the Father sends the Counselor as my representative – and by the Counselor I mean the Holy Spirit – he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I myself have told you. I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:25-27 NLV).

You may never have heard of a whelk, but this little ocean creature can certainly ruin an oyster’s day. The whelk has an appendage that works like a drill, with which it can bore a small hole in the top of an oyster’s shell. Through this very small hole a whelk can devour an entire oyster, sucking it out little by little until the oyster is gone. All of the daily crises we face are just like the whelk! They seek to attach themselves to us and “suck out” our joy and peace. The promise of God to us through Jesus is that of peace. So often we recognize that as true, but we never take the steps to realize peace in our lives. Here are some practical principles that will help you in realizing the peace God intends for you today:

1. First, cultivate love, humor, compassion, and loyalty in your life. This will necessitate ridding your life of suspicion and resentment. Nursing a grudge will destroy your happiness more quickly than anything else will.
2. Second, do not live in the past. An unwholesome preoccupation with old mistakes and failures leads to depression, self-degradation, and loss of peace.
3. Third, do not waste time and energy fighting conditions you cannot change. Cooperate with life, instead of trying to run away from it. Refuse to indulge in self-pity when life hands you a raw deal. Accept the fact that nobody gets through life without some sorrow and misfortune.
4. Fourth, do not expect too much of yourself. When there is too wide a gap between self-expectation and your ability to meet the goals you have set, feelings of inadequacy are inevitable.
5. Fifth, find something bigger than yourself to be involved in. Giving to others refocuses our lives and brings a sense of satisfaction that promotes peace of mind. Self-centered egotistical people cannot know genuine peace of mind.

This Christmas as “the midnight clear” begins to break, commit yourself to these principles and claim the promise of God for peace!