Sing All Ye Citizens of Heav’n Above
Sing in Exultation
Hello, friend,
My heart is divided this December. I’m feeling pulled in two directions. On one hand, the holidays are upon us. Each day this month, we get closer to Christmas — our annual celebration of our Savior’s birth and the commencement of his jaw-dropping rescue mission for humanity. And those are worth all the celebration we can muster.
Imagine it: our mighty Maker seeing what our world had become and deciding to leave Heaven to come for us. To come into our mess, then into our hearts, to set everything right. Everything that’s gone wrong. Every hurt. Every injustice. Every mistake. Every sin. Every broken heart. Every broken life. Redeemed. Completely. Forever.
Wow. At the thought, my heart swells with hope, gratitude, and Christmas spirit.
But I cannot deny that my heart is broken, too. It’s keenly aware of just how wrong things have gone. It aches for the pain we all endure every season — my friends, family, and readers. It aches for our world, too, with gruesome war and murder, vicious accusation and exploitation, callous divorce and neglect, heartwrenching sickness and hunger.
It’s all overwhelming. It’s out of control. Where will it end?
But hang on, I think to myself. What about Jesus? His rescue mission?
And right then, I realize the division in my heart doesn’t have an external cause, as I’ve thought. I come to recognize the origin is internal. Deep in my heart, I find myself wrestling over what to trust. I’m struggling with faith and doubt, hope and fear, remembering and forgetting.
I mean, only if I doubt (or forget) that a majestic story — God’s story — is playing out before our very eyes every day will I fear how all this pain and strife will resolve. Only if I doubt or forget God’s larger story will I succumb to fear about specific daily, worldly circumstances. But if I trust and remember God is who he says he is and is doing what he says he’s doing, then I can relax and breathe and trust that all this will actually be okay. I can trust that God will have his way and that his love will prevail over all evil.
And that’s why Rapt exists: as much for you as for me, its mission is to keep reminding us about the truth of God’s story and our parts in it. To help us remember and trust our true identities as favored children of the awesome God of the Universe, our Abba Father.
It’s a tremendous honor to carry this message, and I want to keep doing it. So, if Rapt, WiRE, Loop, Rush, FLAG, or any of our books reached you this year, would you consider a gift today — to make sure we can bring you more good stuff in 2025? We have a small, efficient team of seven people and need to raise $165,000 by midnight on New Year’s Eve to ensure we can do that.
Would you consider reciprocating our ministering by cheerfully donating to our organization and mission? Would you consider a substantial gift?
Donations are 100% tax deductible.
(If you are new to Rapt, please disregard this plea. It is not for you. :)
Thank you, dear friend,
Editor-in-Chief, Rapt Interviews & WiRE for Men
Co-executive Director, Gather Ministries