In reflecting on our Advent season—and the messages that guided us toward the manger—I’ve been sitting with the word peace and what it really means in a season that feels anything but settled. Christmas has come and gone, the lights are still up (or maybe just coming down), and we’ve crossed that quiet threshold between what was and what’s next.
If you don’t know me well, I tend to use humor when I’m uncomfortable or afraid. I was joking with a colleague recently about a mantra I’ve heard a lot lately:
“I got through another day. Good for me for not letting my feelings turn into felonies!”
It’s funny—and oddly honest. Humor can keep us in line. But then my colleague offered something that landed much deeper. Their mantra for the year has been:
“What is unsettled in you that needs to be named and healed?”
That was exactly what the Holy Spirit needed me to hear. Because peace isn’t the absence of conflict or discomfort. Peace is what begins to take shape when we notice what is unsettled within us—and invite Jesus to meet us there. Peace grows when we stop numbing, deflecting, or laughing things off long enough to tell the truth about what hurts.
Peace is more than a candle we lit during Advent. It’s more than a hopeful wish or a polite greeting. Peace is the active pursuit of wholeness—with the help of the Holy Spirit.
On the night before his arrest, betrayal, and crucifixion, Jesus spoke these words to his disciples:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”John 14:27
Now that Christmas is behind us and a new year stretches ahead, the question shifts.
What peace are you longing for that only Jesus can give?
Is it a relationship you’ve been avoiding because it feels too painful or awkward to name?
Is it disappointment—over a job loss, financial stress, political unrest, or family conflict?
Is it an unsettled place in your faith where certainty feels out of reach and questions feel heavy?
Where is the Holy Spirit inviting healing, reconciliation, or courage?
Jesus does not offer us the fragile, temporary peace of the world. He offers something deeper and truer—a peace that comes when we are willing to name what is unsettled and trust Him with it. His peace. His calm. His steady presence.
So as we step into this new season, hear His words again:
Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Do not be afraid.
The light has come—and it remains with us still.