Back in our prehistoric days, if we happened to run into a saber-toothed tiger on the savannah, we would have a predictable reaction. Our adrenaline would start pumping. Our heart would beat faster. Our breathing would become more rapid. Our hands might begin to shake. All that served us to spring into action, and we would escape being eaten and live to see another day.
The saber-toothed tigers are long gone. Today our problems might be a lay-off at work, or a bad diagnosis at the doctor’s, or a fight at home. Unfortunately, we have same reaction: the adrenaline, the heartbeat, the breathing, the shaking. It doesn’t work as well these days. Instead of helping, it adds anxiety on top of our problems.
In this season we sing about peace on earth, good will toward men. We long for a world in which wars would cease and people would get along with one another. We also long for peace within, for relief from worry and anxiety.
Followers of Jesus know that the peace we await will come with Jesus. There are things we can do to bring about peace in the world and peace within ourselves, and these are worth doing. However, the true peace we seek comes only with the coming of Jesus.