Advent Week 2: Shine the Light of Peace

by Rev Paul Clark

When we lived in North Queensland, we were living in a town right in the path of tropical cyclone Yasi. One of the biggest cyclones ever, category five.

As a family, we did all we could: cleaned up our yard, taped our windows, brought the trampoline inside.  The centre of the cyclone could have come over us. We didn’t know what was going to happen.  It was very scary.

We went downstairs into the strongest part of the house, with lots of mattresses around the walls.   We listened to the radio and then, just as it was getting dark, the power went out. The house began to shake. We couldn’t see what was going on outside. We just heard bangs and clacks, windows rattling and the howl of the wind. My wife and I were on edge.

Our kids were young back then, 8 and 11 years old. Even though it was really scary. Even though there were lots of weird noises. Do you know what our kids did?

They went to sleep.

I was surprised, but I realised, for them, Mum and Dad were there. They knew they were safe with us. We would look after them. We would wake them if things got really bad. They were at peace in our presence. They slept till morning.

At Christmas we call Jesus the Prince of Peace. We can look at the world, all the trouble and chaos we see and wonder, ‘where is this peace?’  What Jesus did on the cross will one day stop all the trouble and chaos in the world: after the cross ‘death is working backwards’. But till then, the peace Jesus brings is the peace our children experienced that night.

If we know Jesus and the Father, we can rest in their presence. We can trust that, ultimately, they are in control, they know what is going on and have it in hand. Because of the cross, we know that with Jesus even the worst thing isn’t the end. God’s love goes beyond death.

When we went outside in the morning there was a lot of damage, trees and powerlines down, but everyone was OK. We only got the edge of the cyclone, about Category 3. I will always remember how my kids slept through a cyclone, and wonder if I have that much trust in Jesus.