How peaceful are you feeling?
As I write this, yet again, COVID rates are shooting up and restrictions are being reimposed to try and control the latest variant’s spread.
Perhaps not the Happy New Year we were hoping for (again!) and I wonder how these more recent developments have left you feeling as we move into 2022? Concerned? Fed-up? Anxious? Frustrated? These are the kinds of feelings we might naturally be wrestling with our world continues to wrestle with how to best respond to this ongoing health pandemic.
In our Christmas celebrations at Burpham Church we remembered that the baby in the manger whose birthday we were celebrating was the Prince of Peace, promised centuries earlier. This might have sounded like a nice idea back in December with all the fun of Christmas celebrations still to look forward to, but as we leave behind the lights and presents, what happens to that promised peace? Is the peace that the angels promised to the world, just a nice holiday encounter or can we really experience it in the cold and greyness of January and February?
The testimony of millions across the ages is that this promised peace, is not a pipe dream nor a holiday experience but a present reality. Jesus said to his friends,
“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.”
(John 14v27)
What an amazing promise! And as we continue to struggle with knowing how best to tackle these COVID-times, can I encourage you to test it out for yourself. One of the best ways to discover Jesus’ peace in our own lives is not to try and eliminate all the stress from it (nice idea, but clearly unrealistic for most of us!) but talk to him about the stress and let him take you through it. Christians call this prayer. Maybe a different way to tackle the present anxiety? Why not try it and see if Jesus’ promise still stands in 2022.
With every blessing
Rev’d James & Jo Levasier
james@burphamchurch.org.uk
jo@burphamchurch.org.uk
