I know there’s at least one fellow Patriot out there who is thinking: Are you kidding? How can anyone have joy considering the mess our country is in? There was a time when I would have agreed with you. But there also came a time in my life when I personally experienced a joy I did not know was possible.

In June of 1970, laying in a bed at the Army’s 95th Evacuation Hospital in Da Nang, Vietnam, I heard words that would impact my life forever. A doctor told my twin brother I was going to die. There was nothing else they could do. I was 22 and this was my third time being wounded. But this time was different. I felt a fear greater than any I had felt on the battlefield. I didn’t want to die. I silently prayed, “God, if there really is a God, if you let me live, I’ll do anything you want.”

He did. I didn’t. Nine months later, after 26 operations and four plastic surgeries, I walked out of the hospital under my own power. Now, I’ll admit, at this time in my life I wasn’t the brightest knife in the box — I mean the sharpest bulb in the drawer … whatever. Four and a half years went by before I finally humbled myself to a God who had mercy on me when I did not deserve it.

Shortly before Christmas in 1975, I hit rock bottom. Reliving Vietnam night after night, becoming an alcoholic, my marriage on the rocks, I remembered a promise I made while lying on my deathbed and finally consented to my spiritual unconditional surrender. My life would never be the same.

Does that mean I’m not concerned about what is happening in the country I love, served, and was willing to die for to defend? Absolutely not! I pray for our nation and its leaders every day. Things may look hopeless, but I’ve faced hopeless situations before, as has our nation. At the birth of our nation, things were not going well as we fought Great Britain for our independence. In July of 1777, General George Washington wrote a fellow officer, saying:

“We should never despair, our Situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth new Exertions and proportion our Efforts to the exigency of the times.”

As much as the Left wants to rewrite the history of our nation, it cannot change the truth. America won its freedom by depending on the God of Heaven in whom we put our trust. Yes, there will be battles and, at times, they will seem overwhelming. The key is if your trust is in Christ and His finished work on the cross. Then you know in the end we win, if we don’t quit.

As we pause in our hectic lives and schedules to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, we remember a baby born in a barn, wrapped in rags, and laid in a feeding trough who came to save the world. Angels in Heaven sang and lowly shepherds came to worship. This baby that the ruling powers tried to murder suffered an excruciating death for you and I and still lives to give us hope. Remember what Christmas is about: HOPE!

Joy to the world!