FAM I LY D E VOT I ON & Activities All of us have times in our lives when we feel afraid or worried about what we see going on around us.When we feel scared, we would say that we are not at peace. In Hebrew, the word for peace is shalom. Shalom means “wholeness” or being “complete”. Have you ever done a puzzle, gotten to the end, and realized you were missing a few of the pieces? Without those pieces, the puzzle was not complete. It was not whole. Sometimes our lives feel like we are missing things. Wemay be sick or lonely.When that happens, wemay not feel peaceful. God’s peace doesn’t only happen when everything is exactly how we want it. We can have God’s peace even when everything around us is going wrong. How can we do that? We can do that by spending time with God and remembering that God promises He is ALWAYS with us, He ALWAYS loves us, and He ALWAYS cares for us. When we believe that, we can choose not to focus on the things that make us afraid and worried. And when we stop focusing on those things and focus on God, then we can feel His peace. Our world is not always a peaceful one. That was true even back when Jesus was born. In John 16:33 Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that you can have peace because of Me. In this world you will have trouble. But be encouraged! I have won the battle over the world.” During Advent we can look to the “Prince of Peace” to be our peace and we can seek peace with those around us. 55
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