As I raced out of the house for the fourth night in a row, I wondered what was awry with my life. My job was cross-cultural ministry, and ministry is never nine-to-five. After a full day in the office, I helped with the Perspectives course, taught the church new members class, served on the hospitality and evangelism teams, and tonight, led home group. Every time I turned around, another opportunity to spread God’s word or serve His people was laid at my feet. Yet, instead of bathing in God’s peace, I just felt frazzled.

In ministry, commitments—whether internally or externally imposed—seem to pop up like mushrooms after a storm. We need to learn language, visit new and keep up with existing contacts, send thank you notes, and write newsletters. And so, we find ourselves scrambling, stretched, distracted.

One of the last things Jesus said to His gathered disciples before His passion was “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.” The first thing He said when He saw them after His resurrection was “Peace be with you.” Are we seeing a theme here?

Yet peace can feel hard to come by, especially in the busyness of ministry. But even if we say, “no” to every extra commitment, we may not have peace. We can veg out with a book or a film but not have peace. Lack of activity is not the same thing as peace.

In Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus, when the angel spoke to the shepherds, it didn’t proclaim peace for everyone. It proclaimed “peace to those on whom [God’s] favor rests.” Peace—a result of God’s favor. We don’t have peace just because we’ve cleared our schedules or exercised good boundaries. We can have peace because God’s favor rests on us, His beloved children.

As long as we’re in ministry, language learning, keeping up with contacts, thanking ministry partners, and myriad other opportunities to serve will remain, but we can do those things with peaceful hearts when we remember that we are our Father’s children. His favor rests on us. That’s enough.