Finished with Peace Behold: The FINISHER! Peace is Hard to Find. It’s hard to find peace when there’s chaos or trouble all around you. Most of us understand that things like peace and freedom and harmony are precious and a gift from God. Also, most of us understand that precious things like peace are not cheap – they can be costly. Peace requires real work in a fallen, sinful world. Peace requires the work of God in our fallen, sinful hearts. The world is waiting, longing for peace to arrive. Peace arrives when we trust in Christ as the fulfillment of God’s promises in the OT and Prophets. The Messiah, Jesus Christ, was foretold as the coming Prince of Peace. See: Micah 5:2, 4-5, Isaiah 9:6, Luke 2:8-20 Peace arrives when we trust in Jesus Christ as saviour. He is the fulfillment of God’s promises as the Prince of Peace. -Peace arrives when we crash at the feet of Jesus. Imagine the shepherds crashing into the stable, unexpected… Sometimes in life we try and carry everyone, everything, and even our own pain. Then we wonder why peace seems absent. Maybe it’s time to give up and give it up to Jesus. Peace arrives when we stop resisting and striving and allow ourselves to crash at the feet of Jesus. -Peace Arrives as the Outward Reflection of God’s Inner Work in Our Lives. When life cuts you, will peace bleed out? It’s not that we just wait for peace to “arrive” – we walk in peace through learning to walk with God, who is present in his promises. (Romans 5:1-5) Peace arrives when we trust in God’s deep work INSIDE of us, not just getting the external stuff we want on the outside. -Peace arrives when, surrounded by chaos, a child of God can trust that God has a purpose and a plan. Mary trusted in God even though everything didn’t make sense – too wonderful and incredible beyond anything she could have hoped or planned.