“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

It’s not easy to feel joyful in times like these. Best-laid plans still go awry at a turn of the news. Just earning a living is fraught with uncertainties. Violence explodes at the drop of an excuse, leaving innocent casualties in its wake. The political system is loaded with self-centered blusterers who will believe–and say–anything that supports their ambitions; and the same attitude has infected everyday citizens to the point you can hardly find a conversation that leaves room for disagreement and still remains civil. Struggling “have-nots” in every municipality see few signs that the “haves” care about anyone else’s needs–aside from special-occasion giving that seems mostly to soothe the consciences of the “haves.”

Just exchange pandemic woes for hectic and overcrowded public places–and I could be describing the world of the first Christmas.

In a society accustomed to frantic-but-fun Decembers where real problems get minimal attention, few of us grasp what it must have really been like in Bethlehem that night long ago:

• The census that filled all the inns was due to a drop-everything-and-get-moving order from an unpopular government, which was motivated by desire to streamline an unpopular tax system. No doubt a sizable percentage of travelers were growling and grumbling about the unfairness of it all; and no doubt outbursts of temper, and violent arguments, were happening daily.
• The Bethlehem residents must have been overwhelmed by the influx of visitors. Even those profiting most from the extra business were likely tense, irritable, and perhaps becoming physically ill from the effort to keep up. (If the image of an innkeeper snapping, “No room” and slamming the door in Joseph’s face is accurate, said innkeeper rates some allowances for stress.) And what about those Bethlehemites who got only the pain of seeing strangers trampling through favorite local haunts, spoiling the atmosphere and leaving a mess behind?
• To compound the hardships for both travelers and locals, there were virtually no government-assistance programs, and few salaried jobs. Few of the wealthy spared much thought for those who depended on day-by-day income (which could be interrupted by a turn of the weather) or on handouts from passersby. No doubt large numbers of census travelers had suspended their regular livelihoods, and were already fretting over how to stretch unexpectedly limited resources through the rest of the year.

Still wish you could have been there that first Christmas? All else considered, it’s not surprising that few people in the vicinity even noticed. They had their own worries. There was so much to do. The idea of a baby being born in temporary quarters, or of people sleeping in a barn (or worse) for lack of other options, couldn’t have seemed that exceptional under the circumstances. Despite our difficulty in comprehending how anyone within miles could have missed a lit-up angel chorus, can we be so sure we would behave any differently should our hectic schedules be “interrupted” by the chance to witness a Heavenly miracle?

The key to answering that question is that key word from the angels’ song on the first Christmas: peace. Not “peace on earth” in the sense of finally achieving trouble-free circumstances, but Christ’s gift of peace for our souls. The peace that can’t be shaken by interruptions or ruined plans. The peace that fears not even death, not even “the end of life as we know it.” The peace that keeps God’s followers able to see, and willing to respond to, God’s opportunities whenever they appear, because in His Peace we remain confident that whatever happens on earth:

• God is in ultimate control of every detail.
• God wants the best for us.
• Whenever God asks us to change our plans, it’s because He has something better waiting.
• God guarantees everything will work out for the best, if not during our time on earth, certainly in eternity.

Are we willing to accept His Christmas Gift?