As Christmas approaches and our diaries get fuller and our credit cards heavier, I challenge you to rise above worldly concerns - I challenge you to be a bigger person.

Habakkuk reminds us of what's really important in life. In reading Habakkuk 2 this week I have taken great comfort from the prophet's authentic relationship with God. His honest anger and confusion about injustice and why the selfish flourish is almost relieving.

Every day hundreds of paid staff and volunteers with Anglicare Sydney work with those who are downtrodden, silent and forgotten. Or just hurting, alone.

How is it fair that these people - and there are thousands of them - should experience the raw, hard edge of life while many others prepare for a comfortable Christmas surrounded by healthy relationships?

Habakkuk rebukes us in our busy, comfortable lives - he rebukes us for thinking that we can make something of ourselves through our work and our possessions. What foolishness. What tragedy, albeit very subtle.

Yet there is a different way to be. Despite the idolatry and drive for selfish gain that seeps into our lives and shapes our world, the Lord is in His temple and the earth shall be silent before Him (v20).

What I find powerful about this image is the majesty and sense of peace that the Lord commands.

Although day to day pressures have a real impact on life, to trust Christ is in some way to rise above these things and focus on what's important to Him.

So this Christmas let go of any felt need to have the trimmings or to acquire and establish comfort. Instead, pray for those who are suffering, give to them joyfully and know that the risen Lord Jesus is on His throne. Be quiet before Him, in praise and worship.

Peter Kell is the CEO of Anglicare Sydney