DAY 11: Peace that Gives Courage to Live

Henry David Thoreau famously observed, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Do we see this at some level every day? Do we feel it from time to time? Desperately seeking fulfillment, yet quietly going about one’s daily life. Keeping your head down, not rocking the boat, or making a fuss. It is a code of silence that has always plagued human hearts.   
 
Advent reminds us that we have a powerful peace in knowing Emmanuel, God is with us! Advent steers us toward our solemn responsibility to break this code of silence and any other codes that signal it is still "business as usual." No, God is doing a new thing in our midst, and we need to live that out in “Loud Exclamation!” Calling people’s attention to the mission of Christ - bringing eternal peace to his creation. Do you know this peace? Do you know only moments of quiet desperation? This Christ child, born into this world in the humble and desperate circumstance of an animal barn hears your quiet plea. He knows you and loves you and wants you to desire his ways for your life because they lead to the abundant life. That starts with the peace of the shared relationship with God.
 
Thoreau also wrote, “… if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Imagine how much greater your “success” could be if we adapted this wisdom to include God – advancing in the direction of God’s dreams, living the life which God imagines for us, what might unexpected “success” might we find there? My prayer for you is that you might have a confident peace giving you the courage to live … truly live a life of loud exclamation!
 
“Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
‘Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God!’”
Isaiah 35:4
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