Is hope dead?

If you are an American, you can feel it.

The anxiety that things are not well sits in your stomach like a cool stone, polished from its constant turning over and over again. The weight of uncertainty and fear is heavy, and we try to pretend that everything will be OK or that we are OK or that we exasperated by the state of things. We shake our heads in disgust and shrug, "Well, what can you do?"

We blame the media. We blame two different political parties. We cling to conspiracy theories because they offer potential answers and explanations, and we are desperate to understand. We engage in vitriolic Facebook wars because surely -- someone is to blame. The chaos of our country has to be someone's fault. And if we can point the finger, than we are free from guilt. If it's not our problem, not our fault, we can deflect any responsibility and cling to our ways and stay comfortable.

We wear our masks, we social distance, we Facetime our loved ones. We check the news compulsively or not at all. We feel it, deeply in our bones, that things are not safe.

Believer, when did hope leave you? Did you feel it fly away in a rush of flapping wings? Can you pinpoint the moment when your sense of hope left you?

Or did you even notice its absence in your life? Did you notice when things got colder and you drew inward as a defense mechanism?

Believer: is hope dead?

Here is the truth -- your feelings, while valid, are liars. Your fear is a visitor in your heart, it is not a part of your family. Fear tells us that things are destined to fail, that we are destined to fail, that there will never be sunshine and happiness again. Fear tells us to blame, to shame, and to judge. Fear tells us we'd thrive better in isolation. Fear tells us to become hard when being soft would bring such healing. Fear tells to withhold grace to the worthy, when in reality no one is worthy and we all desperately need it.

If hope is dead in your life, it is time to resurrect it. It is time to breathe new life into your fear and send it on its merry way because YES there is chaos here. YES there is real pain. YES we all have knots in our shoulders and stomachs and we are angry and we are afraid. YES hope can come home to us, and hope offers comfort and it offers peace and it offers rest.

Our God is not a God of fear -- He is the God of hope. (May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing... Rom. 15:13) Our God is not absent or ignorant to what we face. He sees this mess. And He still whispers to each of us that there is hope, here. There is hope, Believer. He is still here. And if He is still here, of course there is still hope!

So come closer. Draw close, and let's hold hands across time and space and states and countries. Let's bow our heads and receive the holy hope that we've been told is rightfully ours. Let's drop our swords and let the Spirit beat them into plowshares so that we may grow beauty here, again.

Receive this benediction:

As in the words of Peter, blessed is the God and Father of Jesus who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through Jesus's resurrection.* Blessed are you, Believer, who recognizes that the hope you are so desperate for lives within you already. Jesus tells us that you are the one you have been waiting for, that you are the solution to the problems you pray about. Jesus has given you strength, my friend. He has enabled you to accomplish the big and the small. Go forth in the knowledge that you don't have to seek answers or explanations, that you are not responsible for anyone but yourself. That you can be kind in the midst of cruelty, that you can be gentle when everyone else is oh so hard. May the God of encouragement and endurance grant you the peace you need to live in harmony with your fellow humans, today.**

You are free from the bounds of the news cycle, you are free from the words and accusations and attacks of others. You are free to be exactly who you are, and that is not someone who is bound by the chains of fear. You are free to aim for restoration, comforting others, living in peace because you live with the Lord of peace.***

You do not have to engage with darkness; you can bear witness to it without letting it become a part of you.

Believer, you are seen and deeply loved. Remember that hope is never lost when it is rooted in Christ -- not in our presidents, not in our government, not in pastors, not in our media, not in our Facebook friends. When hope is staked to the cross, it is always ours and it is never gone.

Hope is alive. Hope is alive. Hope is alive. Let this be the thrum of your heartbeat today. Let this be your mantra as you navigate these rocky waters. You are alive. You are alive. You are alive. Christ the Lord is with you.

*1 Peter 1:3

** Rom. 15:5-6

***2 Cor. 13:11