Jesus’s birth offers us peace in the middle of our difficulties and stresses. Peace is not the absence of conflict; it is the presence of Christ. The heavenly angels told the shepherds that peace was coming to the earth for those on whom God’s favor rested. What a shocking message! God’s favor was even on the shepherds who lived on the fringe of society. They were being offered peace; and if it could be given to them, we can rest assured it is offered to us as well.