Prince of Peace

I thoroughly enjoyed the sermon on Sunday. I usually walk away from a good sermon feeling at least a little convicted, though. Yesterday was not an exception.

See, I started my morning feeling tired and sleep-deprived. I did not get a lot of sleep Friday night because my sick 4 year old woke up screaming at the top of his lungs. A few hours after finally getting him back to sleep, I woke up to set up for a yard sale. Then Saturday night was spent next to the same sick child, who was tossing and turning and kicking me all night long. And on Sunday morning I was awakened to a very hungry and cranky 2 year old. I tried to fight the bad mood. I desperately wanted to wake my husband up and hand him our cranky child, but I decided to embrace the early morning and let everyone else sleep in.

Around 8 am, I decided that was enough sleeping in and it was time to get ready for church. I shook my husband awake and realized that he was not feeling well. That did it for me. I immediately threw myself a pity party. I was tired and worn out and couldn't I just get one full weekend of help? I started juggling breakfasts and clean-up and digging out clothes from the laundry baskets to dress the kids and trying to make time for a much needed shower for me, all the while grumbling in my head. When I got out of the shower, I saw that it was 10:20. (Church starts at 10:30). I went to check on the kids and saw that they were not doing what they were supposed to, so I hollered in my passive aggressive tone that I guess we wouldn't be going to church. When my husband groggily asked what he could do to help, I snapped, "Nothing. Just go back to bed. You're sick." What a way to prepare our hearts for worship, huh?

I started crying and praying to God. My prayer went something like, "God, this isn't fair. I am tired and worn out and I just want a healthy husband. I had three months of no help and now I can't even get a full weekend. I hate the rush and stress of it all. God, help me!" (Yes, this is pitiful.) And God's reply was, "Being on time is not my concern. That is not an eternal issue. Go love your husband. Tell him you are sorry. Be kind. Be grateful for your husband and three boys. Other wives and mothers do not have what you have." Ouch.

You would think that I immediately obeyed. (After all, isn't that what I tell my own children to do?) But no, I still fought God. I literally was arguing with God. I can't even remember what possible argument I had, but I felt fully justified in my immature, unloving behavior. As I argued, somehow, my heart slowly softened, and finally, right before I left for church with the kids, I apologized to my sick husband. I told him I was childish and it was so silly to have been mad at him for being sick. And the most amazing thing happened. As I started to apologize, I started to feel the weight of my anger drift away, and I started to feel an overwhelming amount of love and admiration for my patient husband. I don't know how much of a difference it made in his day, but it made a huge difference in mine.

We arrived at church right before the sermon, but after worship. But it didn't matter, I was still feeling blissful just from obeying my Father. Plus, the sermon was captivating. It was on Isaiah 9:6, which is very fitting for the Christmas season. It's the passage that says, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." But the message was not some happy go lucky Christmas message. My pastor talked about the state of the people who first heard this message. The Jewish leaders had gotten corrupt and had led their people astray. Isaiah had been prophesying about how they were about to be conquered, but here he stops and gives hope. God's chosen people were conquered, and then for years, the Jewish people clung to that glimpse of hope in Isaiah. They clung to the hope that one day, there would be a savior who would rescue them from their bondage. Can you imagine the anticipation? And here we are on the other side of this prophecy. We have seen it fulfilled. And do we live as though we have a Wonderful Counselor, a Mighty God, an Everlasting Father, and a Prince of Peace? I don't. I live like I am my own God. I do not live confidently because of who my heavenly father is. And I usually fight peace, like Sunday morning. That was the part of the sermon that convicted me, especially in light of how I had just acted an hour earlier.

Our pastor explained that the Peace that Christ is the prince of is not a lack of conflict kind of peace or a zen kind of peace. The word peace in the old testament is Shalom, which has a full rich meaning to it. It means that all is as God intended. You are fully right with God. Just typing that makes me a little giddy. See, that is what I felt in that moment when I finally obeyed God and apologized to my husband. It did not make me on time to church, or give me less to do. It did not give me children who were instantly compliant little angels. To obey my Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace gave me Godly, supernatural peace. Even more amazing is that that kind of peace is always accessible to us. We always have the choice to focus on our own desires or on God's eternal ones. We always have the choice to notice how the grass is always greener somewhere else or to graciously accept what God has given (even when it is hard). We have this choice because we live on the other side of Christ's coming. We have experienced His power and have felt His Holy Spirit working in our lives. But so often, we take all that we have for granted. At least I do. So my prayer is that, on the other side of this amazing fulfilled prophecy, I will truly acknowledge Christ as the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace that He is. And that is my prayer for you as well, especially in the midst of the business of the Holiday season.