Christmas Eve

BY Jasmine Holmes

Born a Child, and Yet a King Day 28

Peace is a word that holds such meaning to this harried mom of three. 

I have been known to—while fixing breakfast, running to carpool, changing a diaper, switching out the laundry, or doing all these tasks simultaneously—quip, “Three kids is a lot of kids.” School and therapy and birthday parties and hobbies and church…the list is endless. Sitting down for a moment of peace sometimes feels impossible because even if I am sitting, my mind is an absolute whirlwind of what’s coming next. 

My boys, on the other hand, know peace intimately. They know they don’t have to think about their next meal, whether they’ll have clean clothes in their drawers, or whether they’ll have a ride to school. They know there will be dinner on the table for them every night and, at the very least, a yogurt pouch and granola bar for them in the car every morning. They know that they’re taken care of. 

Something I’ve been known to say—hands buried in soap suds at the sink, running water in the tub, sweeping up a spill, or trying to accomplish all three things at once—is, “I want someone to mother me.” Because to me, being parented is synonymous with enjoying peace without using my own hands to create it. 

On the one hand, I had my peaceful childhood. It’s now time for me to create a peaceful childhood for my kids. 

Oh, but on the other? My peace has been purchased by the Prince of Peace. 

Amid the prophetic proclamation of a soon-coming King, the prophet Micah says of Jesus:

They will live securely,
for then his greatness will extend to the ends of the earth.
He will be their peace.
––Micah 5:4-5

The peace that the nation of Israel had longed for was coming. They will be wanderers, ragtag nations, and conquered people no more. 

When Jesus is finally born, the angels tell the shepherds in the fields: 

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!” (Luke 2:14).

The beauty of their proclamation is that the “people he favors” (v.14) is anyone who calls upon His name. Being called one of the “people he favors” is possible because of the sacrifice that the baby Jesus will grow up to make. The “people he favors” have peace because He purchased it on the cross at Calvary. 

He has redeemed us, friends. And that redemption comes with a deep and abiding peace. Whatever your place in life—married, single, mother, teacher, in ministry, in a corporate office, feeling peace, or striving to create it—if you have called upon His name, His peace is for you. His arrival on this earth heralds a sigh that had been held-in ever since Eve took from the fruit of the garden. And as we exhale that long-held breath, the peace he affords is ready to fill our lungs. 

The King has come. 

And He brings His peace with Him.