Peace In the Middle of the Storm

Introduction

Nearly 19 years ago, our area had what multiple media outlets described as “The worst natural disaster in Greene County in 50 years” as our community was rocked by what we call “The Ice Storm.” Do you remember those days in 2007? Some areas had nearly 2 inches of ice that destroyed power lines, caused trees to fall, and made traveling on the roads impossible. Over 200,000 people lost power during those days as this storm caused destruction everywhere in our community. I remember being a 4th grader at that time who loved snow and winter, and suddenly being afraid of the season that I had always loved. We had just celebrated Christmas a few weeks before this storm. We talked and sang and studied about hope, love, joy, and peace… and fast forward a bit and we’re seemingly in the middle of a war.

We’ve all lived through storms - some physical, but many emotional and spiritual. We know that just as our homes face storms, we lives are full of storms. We face storms of anxiety. Storms of disappointment. Storms of grief. Storms of busyness. Whenever you’re in a storm, your heart desires peace! Yet, each Christmas, we remember that Jesus came in order to provide His people with peace because He Himself is the Prince of Peace! How do we reconcile these things? How can we have peace in the middle of our storms? Our world says that peace is the absence of problems… but this morning we’re going to see in God’s Word that peace is so much more than that and how you can have peace today, regardless of what you’re going through. We’re going to remind ourselves that true peace is not the absence of these storms, but the presence of God within our storms.

Today, on our fourth and final Advent Sunday, let’s turn to Isaiah 7 and see this familiar Christmas promise as Isaiah points us to the birth of Jesus Christ!

Isaiah 7:10–14 CSB

10 Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz: 11 “Ask for a sign from the Lord your God—it can be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask. I will not test the Lord.” 13 Isaiah said, “Listen, house of David! Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God? 14 Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.

God promises to provide a sign to an imperfect person… and the sign will be none other than the birth of a baby boy who will change everything and give His people peace. Let’s thank God for sending His Son today, let’s pray!

God Promises Peace In the Middle of Storms (10-14)

Again, we all know what it’s like to face storms. Maybe you are here this morning and you are in the middle of a storm. If this is you, understand that you’re not alone! As we read in Isaiah 7, we see another person that is in the middle of a storm and that is King Ahaz. Ahaz was blessed to have a godly father, and his son Hezekiah was one of the best kings of Judah… but Ahaz was one of the most wicked kings to sit on the throne. He aligned the kingdom with neighbors that worshiped false gods. He sacrificed his own son to an idol. He made offerings to false gods. Eventually, Ahaz found himself and his kingdom surrounded by the Assyrians. Without hope. Without help. Seemingly destined for destruction, just like the northern kingdom of Israel. This is the context that helps us better understand what we find in Isaiah 7 this morning. This is a person and a people in the middle of a storm, and look at what God offers to this terrified man: A Sign.

Now, this king wasn’t a good leader, he practiced idolatry, he didn’t follow God’s laws… yet God speaks through the prophet Isaiah, offers Ahaz a blank check, and says, “Ask for a sign from the Lord your God!” God still identifies with Ahaz, even though Ahaz has stopped identifying with God. Gospel application - even when Ahaz wasn’t seeking God, God was seeking Him. Even when Ahaz was disobedient, God was faithful. If you are here this morning and you are a blood-bought, born-again believer, you cannot out-sin God’s grace. Think of your Driver’s License card - you have basic information on there, height, weight, name, address, expiration date… Whenever Lindsey and I got married, she had to get a new driver’s license because her name changed. That process wasn’t the easiest and it also wasn’t the quickest. But she got a new card and it had the new name on it. Understand this, whenever you are saved, you immediately have a new identity. Not because you paid the fee, waited in line, and passed the test. No, you have a new identity because Jesus identified with you, took your sin upon Himself, and gave His perfect righteousness to you. 2 Cor 5:17

2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

The death certificate of Jesus becomes our birth certificate!

This is grace - and it changes everything! And we see glimpses of this even in the Old Testament, like here in Isaiah 7. God identifies with Ahaz and says that He is his God… but Ahaz refuses to ask God for a sign. Ahaz is given God’s blank check and refuses to fill it out and refuses to cash it. And at first, it might sound like the king is doing this out of humility, after all he says that he doesn’t want to test God. But, there is a deeper problem here with Ahaz. His problem isn’t humility, it’s hypocrisy. If he asks God for help, God will help. If God helps, things will work out and God receives the glory. Even in a storm, pride creates problems. Here, Ahaz rejects the very help God offers.

So, instead, God issues this declaration. No rainbow in the sky like with Noah. No angel of the Lord coming to defeat the Assyrians like with Hezekiah. Instead, God promises a sign and it doesn’t make much sense. A virgin will conceive and give birth to a son named Immanuel.” What does this mean? Whenever we see a prophecy like this, there has to be some sort of fulfillment in the life of the person God gives it to. So, what could’ve happened in the life of Ahaz for him and others to see this “sign?” In Isaiah 8:1-4, we learn that Isaiah had a son, Maher-shalal-hashbaz (the longest recorded name in the Bible!). Isaiah 8 tells us that his birth is tied to the destruction of their neighbors who are trying to conquer them. His name means “The spoil speeds, the prey hastens” which shows us that God is going to deliver His people and destroy their enemies because, He is with His people. This is symbolic. The message of this boy’s life is a reminder that Immanuel - God is with us.

But we also know that this is one of the most wellknown Messianic prophesies in the Old Testament as well as it points us 700 years forward to the birth of Jesus. As God Himself will step into time and humanity and be with His people. Notice, Immanuel doesn’t mean “God rescues us from every problem” or “God saves us from every bad thing.” It means “God with us.” How does this promise impact us? Jesus, born of the virgin Mary, came into a broken world to redeem sinners just like you and me. Jesus knows what it’s like to suffer and go through storms

Hebrews 4:15 CSB

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.

Jesus was tempted. He hurt. He was betrayed and abandoned. He even wept! He came from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows and this gives us hope: Whatever we’re going through today, Jesus knows. Jesus sees. Jesus loves. Jesus understands. He doesn’t promise to be with you on the other side of the problem - no, He promises to be with you throughout the problem. In the middle of it. When the night is the darkest, Jesus is with you! What problem are you facing today? Maybe it’s a health problem. Maybe a family situation. Maybe December has been difficult because of changes in your life. Maybe it’s a problem about the future.

We can trust an unknown future to a known God who holds the future. God doesn’t promise deliverance from all of your storms… sometimes the waves wreck the boat in the storm. Sometimes health fails. Sometimes our foundation cracks. God doesn’t promise deliverance from the storms of life, but He does promise a Deliverer to walk through the storms with you… and our deliverer walks on the waves that so often wreck our lives. So, we trust in God’s promise, and as we remember God’s promise to send a Deliverer, we have peace, because we know that God comes through on His promises. Let’s turn to Matthew 1, and see how God comes through!

Matthew 1:18–25 CSB

18 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. 19 So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. 20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her 25 but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.

God Provides Peace Through the Birth of His Son (18-23)

Chances are, you’ve heard this story before. Regardless of how many times we’ve heard the Christmas story, though, it should still shock us as we remember the humility of Jesus on full display. Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, fully-God, eternally existent, humbled Himself to be born not to a king and his queen… not to a wealthy businessman and his wife… but to a young couple that weren’t even married at the time. We see a full-fledged scandal, at least on the surface. Mary and Joseph were engaged. This isn’t like our engagements in 2025 - marriages back in the 1st century were often arranged between the parents of the children. Eventually the couple gets older and they are “betrothed.” This is a fancy word that is more weighty than the word engaged in our world. We see engagements that last for years and, at times, couples doing the same things while they’re engaged as they were doing whenever they were dating. Once Mary and Joseph were betrothed to one another, this began a countdown clock of one year before they were married. Before they were betrothed, one of the members of the union could break the agreement… but there came a time when this was binding and going to happen, and this was past that time because of what we see in verse 19. Mary and Joseph are engaged, verse 18, but verse 19, we see that Joseph is called Mary’s husband… but we don’t see him marry her until after the angel visits him in verse 24. How can Joseph be considered Mary’s husband before being married? Because they were betrothed to one another. The only way you break a betrothal is by getting a legal divorce. This is where they are at in their relationship - this is serious!

And the revelation, the scandal, of it all is that Mary is pregnant while being betrothed, and Joseph is not the father. Can you imagine how that conversation went down? Most pregnancy announcements are exciting! I’ll always remember this - Lindsey and I secretively buy a pregnancy test at the store, get home, and she disappears to the bathroom and a few minutes later I hear a scream and immediately know what that means. Imagine how this happened with Mary and Joseph…

Mary: I have some news for you, but you won’t believe it

Joseph: Tell me what happened!

Mary: Don’t freak out

Joseph: If you don’t tell me now, I just might

Mary: I have been faithful to you, but God did a miracle and He said that I’m going to give birth to the Messiah, and I’m pregnant now!

Joseph: Sure…

This isn’t the most believable story - it’s loaded in scandal. Luke focuses on Mary’s part, Matthew focuses on Joseph’s, and the point is that this is an incredibly difficult situation for both of them to be in. Joseph loved Mary. He was going to marry Mary! And now she was pregnant with a baby that wasn’t his… and biologically speaking, everyone knows what that means. We know this story - we know what God did - but close your eyes and imagine that pain. How would you react? Probably not with the fruit of the Spirit, right? More likely, the fruit of Satan! An eye for an eye - anger - jealousy - violence. This is a storm! And into this storm, God provides. Think of how God has provided for you in the midst of difficult moments of uncertainty in your life.

I’ve shared the name Charles Spurgeon before - Spurgeon was a faithful pastor in the 1800s of a church in London that grew to be the largest Baptist congregation on the planet. He trained future pastors. He helped organize and run an orphanage that helped thousands in London. This was a solid man that was used by God in a mighty way… yet, Spurgeon dealt with his fair share of storms. Many of the men he trained himself ended up distancing themselves from him. He suffered loss. And, significantly, he dealt with depression for years. Yes, Christians can and sometimes do face depression! In the midst of these battles, Spurgeon said that he “learned to kiss the waves that throw him upon the rock of ages.” In other words, he learned that difficult times were actually things that he could be thankful for if they pushed him closer to Jesus. God provided him with a new perspective in his suffering. God provided him with friendships and laughter. God also provided him the gift of Scripture and prayer and realizing that Jesus knows what it’s like to suffer too.

“Charles Spurgeon once said he learned to ‘kiss the waves that throw him upon the Rock of Ages.’ He suffered deeply—betrayal, loss, depression—yet found that suffering drove him closer to Christ. God didn’t remove his affliction, but He met him in it. That is the comfort Joseph experiences here.”

Spurgeon rested in this promise in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.

2 Corinthians 1:3–4 CSB

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

Notice, it doesn’t say that he removes all our affliction, but that He comforts us in all our affliction. He provides even in the midst of the storm. I pray that you’ve seen God’s hand provide in difficult moments in your life and that you can say that He has protected you, even in the darkest of nights. Here is Joseph, at rock bottom, and the Lord sends an angel to explain the situation. Into the uncertainty, God speaks truth. Friends, God does the same for us today. What we need most in uncertainty is the certainty of God’s truth. God reveals this to us in His Word. This is why whenever we are struggling to be at peace in our lives, that is whenever we need the truth of God’s Word all the more! This angel tells Joseph that this child truly is from the Holy Spirit. He has always existed as the eternal Son of God! But God Himself went to work in the conception of Jesus and He grew bones and bones, and developed a brain in Mary’s womb. The Father’s plan to provide humanity with peace was fulfilled by the Son and enabled by the Spirit.

See, this is big: because Jesus was born of a virgin, Jesus doesn’t inherit a sinful nature. This is the importance of the incarnation - that’s a fancy word that means the “In the Flesh” in Latin. This means that whenever Jesus was born, it wasn’t a normal birth. He always existed as fully-God. We’ll see this next week: Without ceasing to be what He was (Deity) He assumed that which He was not (Humanity). Romans 5 tells us that through the sin of Adam, death spreads to all mankind. We all inherit this, just because we’re humans. We inherit this pesky sinful nature. But not so with Jesus! Jesus didn’t inherit this nature nor did He inherit this guilt. There is something unique about Jesus. See, Adam came into a perfect world and broke it because he succumbed to sin - Jesus came into a broken world in order to save it from sin. If Jesus were only God then He could calm the storms, but He couldn’t be our substitute. If Jesus were only a man then He could sympathize with us in our storms, but He couldn’t calm them. So, God made a way for Jesus to come into this broken world as both fully-God and fully-man. As one who could represent us and redeem us. If you remove the virgin birth, you lose the Gospel. As CS Lewis worded it, “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God!” The great I Am became a lamb. The infinite became an infant. God became a man. This sounds impossible - but with God, all things are possible!

So, God sent His Son into this world in order to save us and, as verse 23 reminds us, God Himself is with us! Whatever you’re going through today - you can rest assured that God is with you!

Who is Jesus? The son born to Mary. The Messiah. The adopted son of Joseph, which makes Him the Son of David. But before all of these titles, Jesus is the Son of God. Conceived by the Spirit of God. As Messiah, Son of David, and Son of God, Jesus arrives with a mission and a message to save His people from their sins. Understand this, friend, today you will have no peace if Jesus has not yet saved you from your sins.

(Peace is not the absence of problems, but the presence of our Provider)

God Protects His Peace as We Abide in Him (24-25)

In Missouri, we face a lot of different types of weather. We get snow and ice in the winter. We have scorching hot summers. We have cool springs and we see the leaves turn color in the fall. We also know that we get natural disasters like tornado’s and floods from time to time and that pesky New Madrid fault line is just to our east, so we could have an earthquake or two to top it off! One thing that we don’t have to worry about is a hurricane. Sometimes we’ll get flooding from one of these massive storms, but we don’t have the brunt of it like our neighbors to the south and east. Have you ever seen a hurricane on a radar before? These systems are massive! Lindsey and I watched a documentary on Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it brought to New Orleans 20 years ago - these storms are unreal. They begin with wind and rain, and as the system moves the wind and rain increase and get more intense by the minute. In fact, last month there was a hurricane named Melissa that had a recorded wind speed of 252mph. Flooding. Damaging wind. These storms are insane… but have you ever noticed what’s in the middle of a hurricane? It’s called the Eye. On a radar you see a massive storm that is circulating and moving, but in the middle is the clear dot with no rain and next to no wind. Have you ever been searching for God’s will for your life, and it’s like you’re getting beat up in a storm? Think of the apostle Paul - this man was shipwrecked, beaten, betrayed, slandered, imprisoned, and tortured… but at the same time we can say that Paul’s life is marked by this otherworldly peace. How can that be? Though the world around you can feel like a hurricane, whenever you trust in the Lord, whenever you abide in His will, it’s like you are in the Eye. You’re safe in His protection. The world could be crumbling in around you, but you’re fine. You’re at peace.

See, Joseph had a plan in verse 19 - he was going to divorce Mary. He saw the storm. He saw the problems. Of course, he knew what this meant… Mary had not been faithful. Joseph made his plan, but God changed it. Joseph wrote his plan out in pencil, but God alone writes in pen. And whenever we submit ourselves to God’s plan and walk in obedience, we experience a peace unlike anything this world has to offer because we’re abiding in the God who made us and Who sustains us!

So, why does Joseph matter in the Christmas story? This person, who along with his bride to be, had their earthly peace thrown out the window. Why does Matthew begin with Joseph? How does the angel greet Joseph? Son of David. This is significant. Do you remember what Gabriel told Mary in Luke 1 about Jesus?

Luke 1:32 CSB

32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.

Jesus is called the Son of David… but there’s a problem. Mary isn’t a descendant of David! Who is? Joseph. So how does Jesus receive the title of the Son of David? Because Joseph married Mary (verse 24) and He adopted her son and named him Jesus (verse 25). This is how Isaiah 7 is fulfilled and this promise given to the House of David comes to pass. Joseph, a man who never speaks in the Bible, is used by God to fulfill this promise that secures our salvation! How did this happen? Because Joseph “Did what the Lord’s angel commanded him to do.” Friends, God blesses ordinary obedience! Even in our storms, we can experience peace by abiding. Look at what Jesus says about this in John 15:5

John 15:5 CSB

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.

Today, are you abiding in Jesus? There is such a temptation to give God the scraps.

Imagine a clear jar that represents your life or your schedule.

First, you fill the jar with sand. The sand represents all the small, everyday things that fill our lives—work deadlines, kids’ activities, scrolling on our phones, errands, entertainment, obligations, even good things.

Once the jar is full of sand, you take a few large rocks and try to drop them in. They won’t fit. There’s no room. The jar is already packed.

So you start pressing them in—shaking the jar, pushing harder, trying to force space—but it doesn’t work. At best, a corner of one rock sticks out.

That’s what many people do with God.

We fill our lives first—with everything else—and then we try to fit God in. We say, “I’ll give God what’s left over.” “I’ll read my Bible if I have time.” “I’ll pray when things slow down.” “I’ll serve when my schedule opens up.”

But the schedule is already full.

Now imagine starting over.

You empty the jar.

This time, you place the large rocks in first. These represent God’s rightful place—worship, obedience, prayer, time in the Word, life shaped around Him rather than Him squeezed into life.

Then you pour the sand in.

And suddenly, everything fits.

The sand settles around what matters most.

The issue is not that we don’t have time for God. The issue is that we want God to fit into our schedule rather than allowing God to reconstruct our schedule.

God does not ask for the leftovers of our lives. He demands the lordship of our lives.

Jesus doesn’t say, “Try to make room for Me.” He says, “Follow Me.”

And when He is first, everything else finds its proper place.

“God will not be one item on your calendar—He must be the One who sets the calendar.” Here’s why this matters for peace:

Most of us don’t lack peace because our lives are too full. We lack peace because God is not first.

When we fill our lives with sand— deadlines, expectations, fears, responsibilities, distractions— and then try to drop God in around the edges, we shouldn’t be surprised when our souls feel crowded and restless.

Peace cannot live in a heart that is fighting for control. And that’s where the gospel meets us.

Jesus did not come at Christmas to make your life easier. To help you become a better worrier or help you live your best life now. No: Jesus came to bring peace with God! Because the greatest disturbance in your life today is not your schedule, stress, health, job, or relationships… the greatest problem in your life today is your sin. And until you have peace with God there, no amount of solutions or answers in other areas will satisfy your soul and give you peace. Here’s the good news: 2,000 years ago, Jesus came into this broken world and He lived a perfect life. He went to the cross, and on the cross He took our sin and substituted Himself in our place - He didn’t just quiet a storm or calm anxiety, He satisfied God’s wrath against sin so that whenever the Holy, Sovereign King of the Universe looks at you, He doesn’t see a broken person who has dropped the ball a million times… He see’s the blood of Jesus. Understand this, Jesus doesn’t simply give peace, Jesus IS our peace

So here’s the truth:

Peace doesn’t come when you finally eliminate your problems Peace comes when you surrender your life to Christ.

Peace doesn’t come when all the sand settles. Peace comes when Jesus is first.

Because when God reconstructs your life, everything else finds its place— even in the middle of storms.

This is why the angels didn’t announce peace to people who had it all together. They announced peace to sinners and shepherds - with a simple call: Come and See! Come as You Are, and Leave Changed!

Today, this is Jesus’ message: Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He promises peace! So, if you are here, and you are tired. You are anxious. You are restless. You are worried. You are fighting for control - understand the invitation of Advent: Receive Christ and Be at Rest. Because peace isn’t found when your life is problem free - it’s found when Jesus takes priority. If you don’t have this peace, if you haven’t trusted in Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, what are you waiting for? Today, surrender to Jesus, repent from your sins, believe in the Gospel, and be changed. We’re going to pray, and we’re going to sing… and this song is going to call on you to come to Jesus. I’ll be standing up front and would love to pray with you - the altar is open - come to Jesus