Hope was born

Dear Jesus,

People waited and waited for your arrival, and many are still waiting.

Sometimes I want to change the world. Okay, you know that often, as in daily, I want to do something to change the world. Lord, when you came into the world, you truly changed it. Many would argue that it is still the same. People still die. Wars still happen. Sin still exists, and hearts still hurt.

But because of you, hope was born.

I am no historian, but I know that you changed the course of history forever. The calendar accommodated you. There became years B.C. (before Christ), and then there was A. D. (anno domini) meaning, “in the year of our Lord,” and that Lord is you! For the 30 or so years you walked on the earth, it was as if time stood still and the counting had to begin again.

There has never been a god before you or after you to exist and transcend history and time. No one else ever claimed to die and then come back to life. Either you are real, or Christians are some of the craziest people on the earth. You divide people more than anything else I’ve ever seen. Peter Hitchens, brother of the famous atheist, Christopher Hitchens, has been quoted as saying, “The most dangerous idea in human history and philosophy is the belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God and rose from the dead.”

I don’t have to be persuaded because I’ve felt your touch. I’ve heard your voice. I’ve seen the work you’ve done in my heart. I’ve tasted your goodness, and I’ve smelled your sweet aroma. But sometimes I, like Thomas, still doubt.

I can’t grasp your hand, and I can’t see your face, and I cannot pin you down, because you are a God-man. I am in need of you daily. I don’t know a man around that doesn’t need you, and yet not all are poor in spirit. Not all acknowledge that they have nothing without you.

You came to give us spiritual life anyway, and for those who are poor in spirit, we gain the Kingdom of Heaven. In our desperation, we find you and you bring life and give belief to the doubt. For this one reason, I must thank you for the moments I find myself spiritually destitute, hungry, alone, and afraid. For in my weakness, I call and You come.

That is how you came so many years ago. They called, and you came. You came as a baby when they expected smoke on the mountain or a high king. It was a rare person who expected you to came in that vulnerable way. You changed the world forever, and each day you continue to change the world through weak vessels like me. Ann Voskamp said recently that she tells her kids that “one person can change the culture.” Use me, Lord, to change the culture, even if only in my heart, my home, my family, and my neighborhood.

Today, people say that time is measured no longer A. D. but C. E. “common era.” Lord, you are no common man, and this is no common era. You have walked this earth. You are using people for your glory, but Jesus. People are forgetting you. Hearts are hungry to see you come again. We need you to bust up this world.

We are still waiting. Come, Lord Jesus, come.

in wait and need of only you,

jamie