Lent
This past Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent and as the calendar would have it, Valentines Day! The holiday all about the heart! I have never observed or participated in Lent but of late have been in awe of its significance and purpose for the believer.
I live near New Orleans, Louisiana where Mardi Gras is practiced with an abandon. We are the only area in the country where the week of Mardi Gras or “Fat Tuesday” the schools take a week-long holiday. The parade season is over a month long, and I have heard it said by many that it’s their favorite time of year – even more than Christmas. Really?
My first experience with Lent was marked by heading to Walmart to do some grocery shopping early on a Wednesday morning after “Fat Tuesday.” Checking off my list that morning, I kept passing people in the isles that had ash marks on their foreheads and suddenly realized that these people had gone to their churches that morning and Ash Wednesday was a real thing!
How many of us live like this? We may not practice Lent but we live in our own world of control, and when it gets hard or difficult we stop and cry out and get right and need Him more – just for the season. I believe it’s a form of religion versus the intimate relationship HE desires to have with us.
As Paul has proclaimed, I have been dwelling and praying for God’s will. His provision. His direction. His Hope. His Healing. His leadership. His promises. His rescue/deliverance. HIM – I have needed HIM. JUST HIM. I haven’t needed more stuff or more knowledge. I have need to know HE IS IN CONTROL.
I am not in control. I cannot control one person, event or situation. When I manage a level of control, then it usually ends badly or short of what our God has intended. Why don’t we remember this?
WAIT….isn’t that what the season of Lent is pointing us? It’s not just a religious practice or as some have observed, “Isn’t it a place of reflection and denial so that we will
Reflect – where are you in your relationship with your Savior and Abba?
Repent – what do you need to confess and repent?
Restore – what needs restoring – made like new?
Refocus – what needs to clear – so that you will see clearly your path?
Remember, what God did for us and continues to do for us.
He knows our needs before we do.
His plans for us pass panoramic vision.
He sees all.
He knows all.
His plans are good and perfect for us.
Life is not about the practice of religion but about our intimate relationship with Him.
I ask. Where is my heart?
Where is your heart?
Are we living a disciplined life of consistent reflection, repentance, restoration, refocusing and remembering? He can and will use seasons like Lent to help us remember our intimate relationship – if we let him. A relationship marked by eternity, not just the time between “Fat Tuesday” and Easter but an ongoing, deepening, growing, intimate relationship that reaches it’s depth when we leave this life and pass into heaven’s eternal glory!
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Diane Nix is director and founder of Contagious Joy. She and her professor/pastor husband, Dr. Preston Nix, have served in ministry for 34 years August 2017. She speaks and teaches whenever the Lord gives her opportunity. Gratefully acknowledging that He has plucked her out of her birth family mire in order to share HIS LOVE! You can check out Contagiousjoy4him & Diane’s statement of faith here. We Believe. You can check out Diane’s speaking topics here and her schedule here.
Thank you so much for this. I truly needed this reminder today. I too have not participated in Lent and I was never aware of the practice too much until relocating to my current home. It is always intriguing to me what people “give up” for the season. I too have gone through some trying times in ministry recently and am thankful for your reminder that He is in control!! I am so thankful He is and I am not. bc I definitely would cause a BIG mess every time:)
Thank you for your faithfulness to let the Lord use you to point us to Himself. Knowing God is sovereign/in control is a place of rest. Believing who God is; believing what eternal God has said, done and will do is is a, “knowing” that increases our confidence in Him. We will act on what we truly believe. Jesus is our peace. His banner over His people is love.
Thank you again.