BP 234
Anxiety, not peace, is normal in this fallen world. Tragically, it is a “new normal” that is far worse than the original normal.
Why is anxiety so interwoven into our world and our psyches?
Anxiety occurs for several different reasons as DTFL has mentioned in past posts. One reason we will look at today is aloneness. Anxiety can creep in when we are alone—even if we are surrounded by people. Anxiety can flood our minds and hearts when we experience existential isolation, when we feel like we are alone in the universe.
Why is anxiety so common when we are alone physically, spiritually, and relationally? Because we were made for Presence, to be “with” someone. When we are not with others, anxiety becomes our closest acquaintance. Anxiety is the symptom we experience when we are not close to others.
It helps to have people with us. If we’re hiking through the woods at night, it feels good to have somebody walking beside us. When we are sitting at the bedside of a loved one who is dying, it is comforting to know someone is right there next to us. They don’t even have to say anything. Their tears, their touch, their presence are all we need. Knowing we are not alone leads to a measure of peace.
You probably remember Ecclesiastes 4:9-12: Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
This beloved passage doesn’t mention peace, but it refers to some of the perks that come with presence, namely, help in times of trouble, warmth when life is cold, strength when one is tested and stretched. But presence is the ingredient that must be present for peace. Remember, peace only comes with presence. Peace only comes in relationship with someone else. Not any old presence, but the presence of someone who is safe, strong, loving, protective, and near to you.
Even the journey of psychological therapy is primarily about being in the presence of someone who will be with you, present for your words, your emotions, and your thoughts.
Of course, when we ponder peace, we must not forget our relationship with God.
Existential aloneness occurs when we build walls to keep others out for whatever reason. There are many. But more than that, we experience existential aloneness when we are cut off and alienated from other people and God because of a spiritual reality: rebellion and sin.
When humanity fell in the Garden, men and women were separated from God, cut off, distant, strangers, no longer friends but enemies of the Creator. We were cut off from God’s presence by our rebellion and sin. Where there is sin, there is no presence. Where there is no presence, there is no peace. Where there is no presence or peace, there is anxiety.
If we do not have the presence of God because we spurn it, we attempt to find peace for our troubled hearts elsewhere. In an attempt to experience pseudo peace, we pursue distractions, pleasures, addictions, work, Disney world escapes, entertainment, sports including fantasy football leagues, marijuana, pornography, watching endless TV series, alcohol, loving dogs and other animals, remodeling houses, even cooking and cleaning. Many of these things are not unhealthy or sinful if we are right with God, but any of these things can become idols if they are substitutes for the true peace and joy that comes from God.
None of them will give us the presence and peace we were created to experience.
The Christmas season is known as a time of peace. The angels that appeared to the shepherds on that cold, starry night said, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” ~ Luke 2:14
And if peace can only be experienced when we are with someone who is strong, loving, and faithful, then Christmas speaks even more comfort to us: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)” ~ Matthew 1:22ff.
Yes, Christmas is the time we remember that God did not leave us alone in our anxiety and fear. He did not turn His back on those who rebelled against Him and listened to the Prince of Darkness. He pursued us because He was and is Immanuel, God with us. It is His very nature. He desired to be with us instead of separated from us. We had no means of approaching His holy Presence, but He loved the world so much that He sent His only Son to give believers eternal life and His peace.
Because of Jesus, peace can be a status we experience with God because of Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection, and it can also be an existential experience of comfort, rest, and “withness.” Above all, Presence is peace and peace is Presence. Jesus is the only Being who brings the deepest peace to us because He now lives in us through the Holy Spirit.
Like Dane Ortlund writes in his book, Gentle and Lowly, “Jesus Christ is closer to you today than he was to the sinners and sufferers he spoke with and touched in his earthly ministry. Through His Spirit, Christ’s own heart envelops his people with an embrace nearer and tighter than any physical embrace could ever achieve” ~ p. 33. Talk about having a peace that passes understanding due to His very near Presence!
So, remember, anxiety is normal in a fallen world. Peace is no longer “normal”, namely, both the status of being at peace with God and the experience of His comfort and presence as a lived and felt peace. But Jesus came to restore the original, normal peace that is only found in Him and given by Him.
True peace only comes to us through the presence of a person. The deepest, lasting peace that is not dependent on circumstances comes only through the presence of Jesus, Immanuel, God with us.
Seek Jesus this Christmas season. Know Him and know peace. Movies and good food and Christmas decorations and family traditions and even friends and family won’t bring us that profound peace. They might promise us a thrilling joy but end up leaving us empty. Presence Peace only comes by drawing near to the One who first drew near to you on that night in Bethlehem that changed everything forever.
Everything in life is about relationship. Even the experience of true peace. Nothing else matters as much as being in relationship with God and others. Nothing. Don’t be distracted by anything lesser. Don’t seek pseudo peace in Something when you are designed to find it in Someone.
Peace is a person.
His name is Jesus.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” ~ John 14:27
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” ~ Isaiah 9:6
