By Bianca Schaefer

Peace is a strange thing to long for, because the moments in which we most desperately want it are usually the moments when we feel the least in control. Advent invites us to rethink peace—not as comfort, predictability, or a life neatly arranged, but as the presence of Christ entering our chaos.

Scripture tells us the Messiah would be called the Prince of Peace, yet His arrival was anything but peaceful. A forced census. A long, exhausting journey. No room at the inn. A birth in a manger. A murderous king. From the very beginning, peace didn’t look like calm circumstances—it looked like God with us.

And maybe that’s the invitation this week: to stop waiting for your circumstances to settle before you embrace peace, and instead to discover the peace that settles your heart even when nothing around you changes.

The Peace That Finds Us

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” — John 14:27

Jesus didn’t say, “I will give you peaceful circumstances.” He said, “my peace.” His peace is not the absence of noise or hardship; it’s the unshakeable presence of the One who holds all things together.

Christ’s peace doesn’t deny reality. It steadies us in it.

This kind of peace sits with us in the doctor’s office.
Stands with us in the tension.
Holds us when we cannot hold ourselves.
Whispers calm into the places we’ve grown accustomed to fear.

Advent peace isn’t fragile. It isn’t breakable. It isn’t seasonal.
It’s Jesus Himself — steady, near, and unwavering.

Peace That Interrupts the Noise

Sometimes peace comes quietly in ways we barely notice: a slower morning, a breath that feels deeper than usual, a softening inside your chest. Other times, peace arrives like a holy interruption — stopping you mid-spiral, grounding you in a truth you didn’t realize you needed.

Peace isn’t passive; it pursues.
It comes looking for you.

One of the greatest gifts of Advent is remembering that God doesn’t wait for us to be composed. Christ stepped into a messy world, and He steps into your messy moments, too.

Wherever your heart feels unsettled, that is the very place Jesus wants to meet you.

A Practice: Lighting the Candle of Peace

As you light the second candle on your Advent wreath this week, pause for a moment before striking the match. Name aloud the spaces where you are longing for peace — your home, your mind, your relationships, your decisions.

Then as the flame catches, pray simply:
“Prince of Peace, be present here.”

Let the small, steady glow remind you that Christ’s peace doesn’t wait for perfect conditions; it grows right in the middle of imperfect ones.