God.

You know more of the story than I do. More of my story. More of our stories. You know what has happened and what is happening and what will happen.

Yesterday we read about wise men meeting you, Jesus, after a long journey. They saw you, they honored you, they went on their journey back home. They didn’t know the whole story but they trusted what they know.

The timespan on their story is beyond our imagination. Isaiah heard you and repeated your words. Micah heard you and repeated your words. Those words made sense in talking about you, Jesus.

I don’t have centuries, God. The needs that we face, for the lives of loved ones and ourselves are measured in moments, not centuries.If we have to wait, we’ll all be gone.

But your big story, of the long=predicted, long-anticipated, lived-in-real-time birth and life and death and resurrection and ascension and return of Jesus gives hope and meaning for our short stories.

We talk with you today, and because of that long story, you sometimes answer today.

And you always want to visit with us, to hear our requests, to comfort our affliction, to help us find meaning in our hardest moments.

Work with us today, I ask. Give us your wisdom, your peace.

And your reminders that in centuries or in minutes, you are aware and working. In the name of Jesus we ask you for things.

Amen.