John 14:27 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.

We are in the second week of Advent, and now we are looking at the theme of peace! The peace that is in Christ, the peace that Christ gives to us, is not the peace of this world, which usually means the absence of problems or pains. But the peace of Christ is given to us in the midst of problems or pains. It goes beyond our understanding, which means we may not understand why we have it, but we have it nonetheless.

Jesus is our Prince of Peace, and he leads us beside still waters. That doesn't mean that we won't go through hardships along the way, but as our Good Shepherd, he takes us where we need to go.

Oswald Chambers writes that we have to pray with our eyes on God and not on our difficulties, and this allows us to see how God is going to make an impossible situation work for his glory and our good!