This coming weekend Christians around the world, or at least those of us following the Gregorian calendar, celebrate the most momentous event in the history of mankind — the resurrection of Jesus Christ. What a great moment, when our Savior conquered death and gave us the promise of eternal life!

But that blessed moment didn’t come easily, as two days earlier Christ was subjected to humiliation, scorn and the unthinkable punishment of crucifixion. We’re told that the world went dark for three hours before He muttered, “It is finished,” and was freed from His suffering.

Darkness is a recurring image in the Bible, usually referring to times when hearts have turned from God. In Proverbs we’re told “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.” And it was three days of darkness that almost convinced Pharaoh to set the people of Israel free.

But almost every Biblical incident of darkness is accompanied by a remedy: Light! It was out of darkness that God created the earth and the sky and every living thing. Matthew wrote, “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned”. In earlier times David wrote, “For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness.” And Jesus Himself said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

This last year was one of a peculiar sort of darkness for our world. Illness fell upon us and fear reigned over us. In response to that fear our lives were turned upside down and what was normal became a memory.

But suddenly, there is light! We’re coming out of the darkness. New remedies have been created, churches are meeting again, and in many places you can actually go out to eat. That great enemy of fear — hope — is returning.

So now it’s Eastertime, a time of joy, of rebirth, of renewal. The daffodils are waking from their winter slumber, the trees are budding, and the season of hope is upon us. We must grasp that hope and let it pull us forward, out of fear and out of darkness.

We’re seeing some wonderful signs of hope here at The Fuller Center for Housing. Our first US Builders team of Georgia Southwestern State University students just returned from the Mississippi Delta and the first Millard Fuller Legacy Build in over a year will be held in Carroll County, Virginia next month (click here to learn more or register). The important work of helping families have decent homes is ramping up across the country and around the world. Now is a time to be joyful. The past is the past, but the future is ours.