As I write this post in the last week of February, Russia has invaded Ukraine. Just this morning, the first reports of tanks rolling into Ukraine hit my screen.

It feels surreal — how could this be happening, we ask ourselves. It feels heavy — a weight settles on our hearts when we see the brave victims of war on our screens. It feels ominous as opinions emerge about the globe teetering on the brink of World War 3.

A friend’s friend, a pastor in Ukraine, sends out a prayer SOS via text message: “This is quite possibly our last means of communication for some time,” he begins. His message breaks my heart as he writes, “We are not any braver than you – but confident we are where God would expect us to be.”

“We are not any braver than you.” His words touch a chord. He is not a trained soldier. He is just a husband and a pastor. Here was an ordinary man facing an extraordinary crisis. While his wife and he have the opportunity to leave the country, they are choosing to stay. Why? Very simply, it’s their faith in Jesus.

In the midst of thick plumes of black smoke rising from the city, they long to bring a message of hope to a weary, scarred, and scared world.

The world reels under the weight of one crisis after another. But we cry out to a God who loved the world so much that He willed for His Only Son bear the weight of it all — all the depravity, all the sin, all the darkness, all the guilt, all the shame — so we could be free.

Tomorrow, we begin the season of Lent. As we contemplate the cross for the next few weeks, surprisingly enough, the lyrics of the beloved Christmas song, ‘O Holy Night’ come to mind: “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn.”

Yes, traditionally, the song speaks of the birth of a Savior who broke into a weary world. But isn’t it just as applicable for another glorious morn where an empty tomb revealed that God defeated darkness and death?

While the world seems to spin off its axis and it feels like the powers of evil prevail, we can still experience a “thrill of hope” because, despite what we see, God is on the throne.

It reminded me of another contemporary worship song by Matt Maher :

“Day after day, night after night
I will remember, You’re with me in this fight,
Although the battle, it rages on
The war is already won
I know the war is already won.”

 The battle rages on. But we remember that God is with us in the fight. We fall to our knees and cry out before a merciful God to stop the bloodshed and violence. But we also believe that He shed His blood on a cross so He could declare, “It is finished.” The war is already won.

This year, I believe the season of Lent is even more meaningful because we’re living in the valley of the shadow of death. But we don’t live as people of despair and darkness but as people of hope and light.

Join me this Lent on my 40-day devotional “Journeying with Jesus,” Bible plan to help us walk with Jesus through the last two chapters of Matthew. We stop to focus on Jesus’ last days on this earth and what that means to us. And as we ponder on what seems like apparent defeat and death on the cross, we see that through His death comes life and through His “defeat” comes victory.

Close to 150,000 people have completed this devotional already. Join us by starting this plan on YouVersion or  downloading a PDF version here

Lent begins this year on Wednesday, March 2nd.

It’s my prayer that as we journey with Jesus we would be undone by His grace, we would be overwhelmed by His love, and we would live as people of hope.

 

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