3 Simple Ways to Have a Peaceful Christmas

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Are you like a lot of women I see online today who have begun to dread Christmas, while longing for a way to have a peaceful Christmas as they see in the Hallmark movies?

Many women dread Christmas because there are so many more responsibilities than at any other time of year, and they are already over-taxed.

Some dread Christmas because they know it’s only going to put them further into debt.

Others dread Christmas because they feel it’s lost the charm it once held. Now it’s all about keeping up with the Joneses, with the aesthetics and gift hauls.

Maybe you dread Christmas because you’ve experienced a loss, or because there is a lot of tension in your home that is amplified during the holidays.

There is a way to get back to the joy and peace of the Christmas season in a way that is authentic and lasting.

3 Simple Ways to Have a Peaceful Christmas

There is a certain irony when we think of a peaceful Christmas, because the events surrounding Christ’s birth were anything but peaceful.

An angel appeared to Mary, informing her that she was going to have a child.

But she was not married. She was a virgin. Who would believe her when she claimed she was pregnant without having been immoral with Joseph (or someone else)?

An angel appeared to Joseph, informing him that his fiancée was pregnant outside of wedlock.

When Mary was in or around her 9th month, she and Joseph had to make the long journey to Bethlehem to register in the census, where they were unable to find a place for Mary to give birth.

So, she gave birth in what would be known to us today as a “rest stop”.

Unsanitary, cold, and exposed. Very unlike the images we see today on greeting cards.

Yet, there are three things we can learn from Mary about having peace in the middle chaos:

• She accepted God’s plan for her life. “Let it be to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38
• She meditated on His works in her heart. “But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Luke 2:19
• She didn’t wait for the right conditions; she made room for Him right where she was. “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:7

A few years ago, I found myself in a place much like many women today are describing on social media: burned out and dreading the holidays.

Celebrating Christmas had lost its charm, and honestly, I couldn’t wait for it to be over.

I didn’t want to ruin things for my family, so each day I put on a happy face and pretended to have as much fun as everyone else around me.

Yet, I felt dead inside.

I felt sad, too, because I used to love the holidays so much.

By the next year, I had come to realise a very important thing: celebrating Christmas isn’t a vibe. It’s not an aesthetic. It’s not a feeling or emotion. It’s not a Hallmark movie.

Celebrating Christmas is a celebration and remembrance of the works of the Lord!

This doesn’t require an atmosphere; it requires a heart that is in right standing with God.

1. Peace begins when we fully surrender to God

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” John 14:27

The peace that Jesus gives is a peace that does not demand peaceful circumstances.

His peace is a peace that grows from deep inside our soul and spirit, and stabilises our heart in chaotic times.

However, this is a peace that only comes when we have fully surrendered our lives to God.

As long as we insist on keeping control of our lives, as long as we insist on having our own way, we will never experience the peace God gives.

2. Peace is nurtured through meditating on God’s Word

The bombardment of information never stops.

Information is currently doubling every two years, which is both inspiring and terrifying. Inspiring in the fact that we are able to solve problems more effectively and potentially find cures and prevention for things like disease and disability.

Yet, it is terrifying in the fact that the average person has already reached a state of overwhelm and even mental fatigue do to an overconsumption of information.

Paul actually refers to this in Romans 1, when he says, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools,” Romans 1:20-22

It’s not knowledge and information that will rescue mankind; it is Christ!

One of the greatest avenues to peace is the one most people today will do anything and everything to avoid: silence.

Not just silence, but silence in God’s presence.

This doesn’t mean our surroundings will necessarily be quiet; it means our hearts and our thoughts are silenced so that we can hear the voice of God speaking to us.

It means that we turn off the digital noise that threatens to distract us, and find that place of solitude with the Lord so we can “ponder all these things in our heart”.

If you are not taking time each day to turn off the noise in your life, in your mind, and in your heart so that you can meditate on God’s Word, begin today.

You will be surprised at the difference it makes.

To learn more about Scriptural meditation, visit these blog posts.

3. Peace can thrive in us, no matter what is going on around us

About 10 years ago, we began hearing about the Danish concept of “hygge“, a word that defines something as cozy, warm, serene, and fulfilling.

Clearly, hygge isn’t something that you can have all of the time.

In fact, there may be long seasons of life, where hygge is simply impossible: perhaps while caring for an ailing spouse or parent, while raising multiple small children, or while working in a career that with a long, inconsistent schedule.

Thankfully, God’s peace is nothing like hygge!

Many people try to create a peaceful atmosphere so they can feel calm and serene inside. God’s peace thrives in us no matter the atmosphere.

You see, when we rely on a peaceful atmosphere to give us peace, our peace lasts only so long as we remain in that atmosphere.

And if we’re completely honest, there are times when even a peaceful atmosphere cannot settle our unsettled hearts.

There are times when our worry, fear, anxiety, and overall sense of dissatisfaction are so overwhelming that peaceful atmospheres are of no help.

This is a situation in which only God’s divine peace can help.

God wants to give us a peace that hygge and peaceful atmospheres cannot give. It is a divine peace that doesn’t rely on atmosphere.

It is a peace that transforms atmospheres!

When you have God’s divine peace, you can be in the middle of the most chaotic atmosphere with a heart free from worry, fear, anxiety, and dissatisfaction, and be able to give thanks to the Lord with a joyful, settled heart.

This is the kind of peace God wants to give you this year.

If you need His peace, the peace that surpasses all understanding, to guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus, I urge you to cry out to Him today.

Fully surrender yourself to His plan for your life.

Take time to meditate on His goodness, His ways, and His Word.

And then allow His peace to settle your heart, no matter where you are or what is going on around you today.

Before you go, I would like to give you these Bible verse cards on the names of Jesus 100% free!

To download these cards, simply click here or on the image below, and you can download your own set.

You can laminate them, cut them into small cards, and take them with you wherever you go, so you can meditate on what God’s Word says about who Christ is.