Remember: He's On His Way to Set Things Right!

Yesterday not only were 20 children and 8 adults (including the shooter and his mother) killed in Newtown, Connecticut, but 22 children were attacked at their school in China by a knife-wielding man.   There is so much hurt in our world. People we know and those we only hear about are dealing with tragedies that bear down on us and would crush us. Where's the peace on earth, goodwill to men that we sing about at Christmas?

Yet it was not such a different world than ours into which the Christ child was born. Darkness was tangible, like it is now. Hope was allusive. For 400 years God had been silent, and when he fulfilled his promise of a Savior it was not what the people expected.

Take hope, my friends. This Advent season, this pre-Christmas time of preparation, remember this: he's on his way to set things right! (1 Chronicles 16:33b, The Message). Indeed, he has come, bringing life and light. We are told that the Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn't put it out! (John 1:5, The Message). Take hope, Christ has come! And he is the only one who can set things right.

I encourage you to listen to these two songs. The first is from Handel's Messiah, the opening number. It is a song of comfort and hope. The second is a prayer for God's mercy. What could be more fitting today in the face of the suffering and pain in our world?