As shared at the Internet Café today.

Hope—such a beautiful thing. It’s the perfect take-away as we leave the Easter season behind because everything that happened in the crucifixion—all the pain and injustice and sorrow and mockery and loss—all of it gave way to hope.

We’ve messed up. We’ve failed. Lost. Hurt. Been broken. But we have Jesus, and He gives us a fresh start. Thank You, Lord, that Your mercies are renewed daily. Thank You for being a God who has the final say, who fulfills the greatest sacrifice, who has overcome the world. We worship You because You know the end to our stories. You hold all the answers, restore the fragmented pieces of our broken lives, and make us whole again.

Because Your story is also ours: The darkness came. And then You rose up out of it.

You are our hope. You embody everything that is and was and is still to come. Everything good and beautiful and perfect and right.

And so we can go on, no matter what we are up against. Because we are never alone, and You are always victorious.

Help us, God, to let go of our cynicism, our fears, our disbelief. Let us grab hold of every shimmery wisp of possibility. Let us see how the tiniest bit of light banishes the darkness. One word, one touch from You and we are changed. Barriers fall and love pours in. You are the answer to every question we ever asked, the solution to every problem, the joy to overcome every sorrow.

So we lean on You. Rely on Your strength. Trust in Your goodness. And remain, forever, hopeful.

Amen.