3 Secrets to Peace in the Midst of Christmas Stress

I remember the Christmas seasons from the past when I was a young mom and all the preparations seemed overwhelming. I wish I could have known better how to respond in a godly manner. So let me share with you three secrets to peace in the midst of Christmas Stress. All 3 secrets are found in Luke 10.

Luke 10 contains three stories of Jesus’ responses to those who found greater value in “doing” than in “being.” Let’s look at them. I will give you a summary of each story and then we’ll see how they apply to having peace in the midst of Christmas stress. TWEET THAT!!!!!

The First Secret

In Luke 10:1-20, Jesus sends out 72 disciples to share the Gospel. The missionaries return with tremendous news: “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” They return ecstatic. They can’t believe the impressive results. I think they expect Jesus to jump up and down in joy like they are doing. Instead, he says, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (10:20).

Jesus emphasizes he values more their “being” His children than their accomplishments in His power. For our Christmas stress theme, we could also emphasize that just because we have great results from one activity, doesn’t always mean doing it again will gain the same results.

What stress are you feeling because you want to gain the same appreciation from a former successful activity? Instead, be at peace that God will bring the “great results” from anything you do if you obey Him.

The Second Secret

In the second story in Luke 10:25-19, we read the story of  a lawyer who is an expert in defending religious law. He asks Jesus, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (10:25). Jesus doesn’t answer directly because the lawyer isn’t sincere. The defender of the law has kept the law and not only desires “to justify himself” (10:29), he wants acknowledgment, approval, and applause for his “perfect” behavior. But his heart sees no need for a Messiah. By Jesus asking the lawyer what is the most important “Law” command (which is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind), Jesus is pointing not to finding value in being perfect (which is impossible) but in having a heart desire of loving God.

For our Christmas stress theme, I would suggest that we can find greater peace in taking our focus off making everything perfect, and instead caring about the hearts of those we love. Instead of being upset because the children mess up the “perfect” decorations, we give grace to imperfect children who have an imperfect mom.

The Third Secret

Thirdly, we have the famous story of Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary (vas. 38-42). Mary completes her hostess assignments and then sits peacefully at Jesus’s feet being spiritually fed. Martha frantically thinks of more she could complete and becomes angry because her efforts aren’t getting the results she wants—acknowledgement of her hospitality.

The connection with Christmas stress is obvious. Peace comes from being spiritually minded rather than performance. It is wanting to please God rather than on receiving acknowledgment from people. The greatest way to overcome stress is to actually be willing to be seen as “less than.” As one who didn’t want anyone visiting unless my house was perfectly clean, I can tell myself now that my attention on visitors is more important than how my house looks. How about you?

What Can We Learn?

All three incidents feature someone “doing” and Jesus encouraging them to “be”. In all three, someone has worked hard and reaped stress. Jesus longs for them to know the peace of the security of how they are accepted by the Messiah. All three are “doing it” and wondering why “it isn’t doing it”.

Our sensitive Savior, Jesus, who is sympathetic and empathetic to human feelings, is using a variety of ways to basically say, “You don’t need to be stressed by doing. I want your heart to reside in peace by knowing who you are by being in relationship with me as your Savior and Lord, the source of peace.” As a result of His Spirit’s indwelling, we are empowered for doing his works as he supplies the drive, energy, and passion for his glory, not ours.

(This is an adapted excerpt from our book God’s Intriguing Questions: 60 New Testament Devotions Revealing Jesus’s Nature. Available in Kindle, audio, and print).