How is it that the season in which we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) can become a season of stress and anxiety? The Christmas season has become so busy that it is easy to lose the peace that Jesus promised: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you” (John 14:27).

As you take a moment to rest between Christmas and the beginning of the new year, reflect on this question: How do we maintain the peace of God and closeness with God that allows us to keep everything else in perspective? Surely it begins with maintaining a daily closeness with Jesus whereby we find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-30). In that discipline we are reminded of God’s words through the psalmist, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). In those moments we can focus on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable—values not always communicated by the world (Philippians 4:6-9).

It’s much easier to maintain a daily discipline of intimacy with God than to restart it once it is lost.

God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself.
C. S. Lewis