During the first days of September 2001, I got a strong impression that I was to write a "'song of hope" that the church could sing. Actually I had been trying to write a song of hope since 99, when many people in the world and among God's people were overcome by the fear of Y2K, but none of my writing attempts led anywhere. I could sense this time was different as I began with "Jesus, hope of the nations...." I wanted to communicate that hope was not a feeling, but sourced in the person of Jesus. I finished the verse and the pre-chorus, but couldn't seem to get the "right" chorus. Then September 11th happened and I realized even more clearly why we needed songs of hope to sing. In the days following, I wrote the chorus, and within a few weeks, the first version of the song was recorded in Colorado Springs.