Peace Happens

The second week of advent is upon us and we look to the concept of Peace as we prepare for Christ's arrival. Many churches looked upon the text of Luke 3 in which John the Baptist "prepares the way for the Lord, making straight paths for him" as was prophesied by Isaiah. I find it odd that one would be sent before the Lord to make the paths straight for Him. We often think of our God in omnipotent terms and wonder why so much discord is allowed if God is in control. In doing so, we seem to secretly long for a loss of the free will and personal choice required to truly accept His grace on our own volition. If we overlook this idea of freedom, then we are left to wonder why such a powerful God would need one to set the paths straight so that he could arrive. My belief is that these straight paths aren't for the benefit of our savior, to allow Him to find us, rather, for the benefit of us to prepare us to be able to let Him find us. How does John propose that we do this- "Repent." As we search for peace, we must be reminded again that we may only find it by setting ourselves straight and preparing the way for our Lord, not by continuing in our own ways and wondering why things never seem to work out. May you find this straight path and ready your heart for our Lord this advent season and receive the peace of Christ.