For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
Prince of Peace. What a beautiful name. It is a sound of hope when calamity strikes us or busyness unravels us or hardship grinds us down.
Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace. To me, these names paint a picture of the enormity of Christmas.
One whose perfect plans and infinitely wise counsel are met with awe. A champion God, glorious in His strength. A loving Father so ancient He has no beginning, and so eternal He has no end. A Prince of complete and utter peace.
All of this was wrapped up in a squalling infant boy thrust into a cold and broken world. All of this majesty, all of this strength, all of this infinity . . . confined within human flesh, a vulnerable baby completely dependent on his teenaged mother. Mighty God. Everlasting Father.
Every time I pause and let the weight of it sink in, I can hardly fathom why He would do such a thing. It's then I sense His heartbeat, and it's there I find His answer.
For me. For us.
It was for us He came. For these glorious, incredible, imageo Deo--made in the image of God--creatures. For these broken, lost, fallen human beings. He entered our world because of love, to accomplish one purpose: to bring us peace.
The original Hebrew word is shalom, and it's used 239 times throughout the Bible. The English word, peace, doesn't even begin to convey the depth of its meaning. This shalom speaks of wholeness, soundness, and well-being. Completeness in number, safety and soundness in body, health, prosperity, quiet, tranquility, contentment. Peace in relationships. Peace from war. Peace with God.
We were cut off from this shalom, struggling to recreate it or achieve it or be worthy of it. Locked into a covenant of law that promised us shalom only if we could live up to its impossible standards. Then Jesus came to fulfill the law and restore us to this all-consuming peace, this rightness with Himself.
Shalom dawned on the first Christmas day, and it was brought to full light on the day this crucified Savior returned to life.
My Prince of Peace came to fill me with shalom. Completeness, soundness, absolute rightness. A quiet strength inside that knows that no matter the storm, I am anchored in Him. A contentment welling from within, unthreatened by outside circumstances. A haven found in the shadow of His wings, in the shelter of His love.
In Him, shattered hearts are made whole. Dead soil springs up with new life. Old coals kindle with fresh flames. Peace reigns.
Merry Christmas, Tracey! This is a wonderful post! :)
ReplyDelete~Liv
oliviakfisher.blogspot.com
Thank you, Olivia! Have a wonderful Christmas! :D
DeleteThis post. <3 Ahhhh, Tracey, thank you SO much for setting my mind on the King in these last few hours before Christmas. You don't know how much your words have blessed me over the past year that I've known you. So grateful this Christmas for the gift of friendship with you. *hugs*
ReplyDeleteJust...amen. That the King of all creation would humble Himself in this way...it boggles my mind every time I think of it. I greatly appreciate this post for reminding me of that once again. Merry Christmas, dear Tracey! <3
YOU. <333 The very act of writing this post was refreshing for me too, and I'm so glad you found a moment to look to our King this Christmas Eve.
Delete*BEAR HUGS* I'm so grateful for you too, Mary!! Your sweet friendship brightens up my life.
Isn't it incredible, the kind of love that would sacrifice everything for us? It makes my head spin. Merry, merry Christmas to you as well, my dear! <3
Wishing you a blessed Christmas!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bryn! Merry Christmas to you, too! ^_^
DeleteYou never, ever cease to give me the words I need. I've struggled this year to find all the peace and joy you're supposed to have during Christmas since my best friend's sister passed away in September, you know?
ReplyDeleteBut you know what? It's BECAUSE of what we're celebrating that I can have peace. Because I know my friend is WITH the Prince of Peace, right now. She got to celebrate Christmas with the Birthday Boy! ^_^ This post just reminded me all the more of what He did for us, and how utterly in awe and grateful I am.
Through Him I can have peace, no matter what. And, oh, what a gift that is!
Thank you so, so, so much for this reminder! Just READING these words gave me peace. I read this yesterday morning, and it really helped. And I did end up having a wonderful Christmas. ^_^
I know I'm way too late to wish you a Merry Christmas (oops), but I do so hope you HAD a very merry one! LOVE YOU, TRACEY. <3333
It's so easy to lose sight of that peace, isn't it? Especially when a tragedy or hard time hits. *hugs* But the main thing is that His peace is THERE, ready to overtake us.
DeleteI'm so sorry for you and your friend's loss this year... "Celebrating with the Birthday Boy"--how true! ^_^ I'm deeply grateful for the reality of Heaven, especially when thinking of loved ones living there.
Really glad the post helped (though that was all God!), and that you had a wonderful Christmas! So did I! *hugs* I was late in wishing you a merry one too. XD LOVE YOU TOO, CHRISTINE. <33333
A beautiful piece, once again! I don't see a lot of Christmas posts that talk about Shalom- which is odd, really. I'm glad you did. I've been thinking of similar things this Christmas.
ReplyDeleteMerry (belated) Christmas!
Thank you once again, Blue! The topic of peace was my mom's idea. :) I think the busier the holidays are, the more I think about and long for that shalom.
DeleteMerry belated Christmas to you, too!
Grace, grace so complex you can find new tones of it every day of your life and still not put a mite of it to words.
ReplyDeleteSo very true. I'm amazed at how endless it is.
DeleteMerry Christmas, a bit late! :D
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you as well--a lot late! Oops. XD
DeleteBeautiful post, Tracey!
ReplyDeletestoritorigrace.blogspot.com
Thanks, Tori! Merry late Christmas! :)
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