"There is No Peace on Earth"

I love many things about the Christmas season, but if I had to pick a favorite thing, it would be singing Christmas hymns. I LOVE singing those hymns, and am often sad that we only sing them at church 3-4 weeks of the year. In recent years, the words of the hymn "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" have really touched me. Especially verse 3 and 4, here is verse 3:

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

We live during troubled times, and it can be so easy to despair. It seems like the wicked are winning. Wrong is called right, and right is called wrong. Religious freedom is under heavy attack, and anyone who tries to stand up for it is persecuted. Our vote seems to matter very little in our country, and that should be a frightening thing for everyone. I feel like we are on a sinking ship, and there is very little I can do about it.

But then I remember the words to verse 4:

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

God is still with us. The wrong may prosper for a little while, but the right will prevail. We cannot give up the fight. Jesus Christ will soon return to this earth, and it will not be as a babe, but as the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Our Savior will uphold His church and His people during the difficult days ahead. Satan is fighting hard because he knows there is little time remaining. And he knows that he will lose. We ARE on the winning side, and we have to stick it out to the end.

And even though we live in difficult times, we can find peace through our Savior. Jesus Christ did bring peace on earth when He came to earth as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes. Because of His divine birth, He was able to give His life for us, and take it up again. Because of Christ, we can have peace in a turbulent world.

"The Savior is the source of true peace. Even with the trials of life, because of the Savior’s Atonement and His grace, righteous living will be rewarded with personal peace. In the intimate setting of the Passover chamber, the Savior promised His Apostles that they would be blessed with the “Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost” and then uttered these important words: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” Then just before His Intercessory Prayer: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”"

-Elder Quentin L. Cook, April 2013