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Can We Trust That Life Wins? – Friday, 03/27/2026

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:6-11

There's a question underneath all the Lenten themes this week that's worth naming directly: Do we really believe that life wins? Not in a bumper-sticker way, but in a deep, bone-level, stake-your-life-on-it way? When you're facing something that feels like a dead end — a diagnosis, a broken relationship, a season of exhaustion that won't seem to lift — do you believe that the power of resurrection is actually real and actually available to you? That's not a question with an easy answer. And it's okay to sit with the difficulty of it.

The Apostle Paul writes to the early church in Rome about something he calls "life in the Spirit" — the idea that the same force that raised Jesus from the dead is not a once-in-history event, but an ongoing reality available to every person. That's a remarkable claim. He's saying that the power that overcame death is not locked away in ancient history. It's present. It's accessible. It's at work in ordinary human lives in ordinary communities — even in places like Monroe, Ohio.

What makes this hard to believe is that we can see clearly what "death" looks like — failed businesses, broken families, systems that seem rigged against the vulnerable, the slow grinding weight of discouragement. What we sometimes can't see as clearly is where life is quietly, stubbornly breaking through. But it is. It's in the person who got sober and rebuilt their life. In the family that found its way back from the edge. In the community garden that turned a vacant lot into something beautiful. Life wins in small, incremental ways all the time — if we're paying attention.

This week's question — "Can these bones live?" — is ultimately a question about trust. Not trust that things will be easy, or that pain won't be real. But trust that the arc of the story bends toward life. That's the invitation of Lent, and of Easter approaching just two weeks away: to let go of the easy cynicism and dare, one more time, to believe.

Reflection Question: Where are you most tempted toward cynicism or despair right now? What would it mean to choose trust instead — not pretending things are fine, but believing the story isn't over?

Action Step: Make a short list of three places where you have seen life "win" in some small way recently — in yourself, in your family, or in your community. Keep it somewhere visible for the weekend.

Prayer: God of resurrection, we confess that sometimes it's hard to believe life wins. We see so much that argues against it. Give us eyes to see where new life is quietly breaking through, and give us the courage to trust you with the parts of our lives that still feel like dry bones. Amen.