Christmas time is upon us and I find myself sad so much of the time.  Don’t even know why.

I think part of the reason is my disappointment with how things are.  We come to the end of a year thinking things should have improved.

But they haven’t.

Do I have more money?  A better job?  Are my kids closer to God?  Is my marriage better?  Is the world safer?  Has hatred, greed, selfishness, sin been removed from the earth?

Am I a better person?

I pulled into the gas station this morning and a guy pulled in at the same time and cut me off.  In that moment, I think I hated him.  I cussed at his rudeness and fumed until he approached me and apologized.

A nice man in a bit of a rush.

Why does something so insignificant turn me into something so angry.

Despite my prayers and times of singing praises, I am still a broken man.

I saw a movie recently that was apocalyptic.  End of the world.  Man-reaping-what-he-sowed kind of stuff.  Evil took over and everyone was dying.

Now I’ve seen the zombie movies, the plague movies.  I’ve read the books about economic meltdowns and world war whatever.  Death Star, alien life forms, all that just seem silly for the most part.

This felt more possible, more real in a sense.  Aside from plot holes and overdramatization, I could see this happening.

Except for one thing, you and me and Jesus.  Well, ok, that’s three things.  But, not if we do it right.

In the face of all that is wrong, we have a choice.  Will I let Jesus live through me?  How much will I let Him live through me?

That’s the promise of Christmas.  If we let Him in, let Him move and breathe and speak, there is no darkness so strong, no evil so powerful, that we can’t overcome.  I can stand though the weight of the world tries to crush me.

I can’t make myself, my family, my world better.  But Jesus can through me.