Is Peace A Requirement For Christmas?

God did not wait for calm, readiness, or emotional regulation to enter into our world. He arrived into the anxiety, disruption, census pressure, travel chaos, and social exposure. His advent wasn’t a reward for peace. It was an arrival into a world that could not produce it.

On Christmas, we imagine a quiet night, with a serene little family, and a gentle arrival. But the reality of the moment tells a different story. The birth of Jesus came during forced movement, under political pressure, with no control over timing, location, or outcome. It unfolded in an uncurated setting, where the control we humans covet was not an option. There was no sense at the time that everything had been put in order before the baby arrived. In fact, it probably looked like an interruption to the dream.

Functionally, we often assume an opposite order in our own theology. We think there has to be calm first, then we can meet with God. We assume emotional steadiness is what allows His divine presence, as if peace were the admission ticket and presence was the reward for our good work. But this often unconscious assumption quietly reshapes anxiety into a performance problem, something that we have to resolve before God will show up.

But Christmas contradicts that instinct completely. God enters human life amid instability, not after things have calmed down. He does not wait for people to be ready, regulated, or composed before showing up. The incarnation takes place in a harried moment, which means anxiety does not block God’s nearness; it’s what His peace interrupts.

This week, your anxiety is not evidence that you have missed the meaning of Christmas. It’s just evidence that you are human in the same kind of world Christ first entered. You live in a body under pressure, with a life exposed to forces beyond your control, and a nervous system that responds accordingly. That is not a sign on your soul saying, “No room for you!” It is a sign of the kind of world God has already shown Himself willing to enter.

We are told this is the season of peace, and then we are handed conditions that make peace almost impossible to maintain. But Christmas was never a reward for your emotional stability. It is the story of God entering an exhausted world and bringing peace with Him, rather than waiting for people to generate it first.

On Christmas, peace does come. The angels announce it. But it comes after the arrival of the child, not before. That means that peace is not contingent on you. It is the gift He brings with Him when He comes. So remember, the perfect Christmas is not about God waiting for you to calm down. It’s about God being your calm.

Merry Christmas to all!