Lent

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!

Fast forward. In the past few weeks, the ministry and life journey have been marked with hardships, both personal and ministerial. Just putting one foot in front of another has been a real effort. I haven’t been thinking about the season of Mardi Gras or even the season of Lent. Last year on Ash Wednesday, I boarded a plane in New Orleans headed for Washington, DC. I sat next to a girl who had been up all night celebrating “Fat Tuesday.” After a moment of conversation, she stated, “But it’s all good now. It’s Lent. I’ll have my fast. I’ll cleanse, and then I’ll do what I need to do.” Wow! Again I say, “Really?” Is it that easy to let your self off the hook and just go about life. Live like you want because Lent is coming and then you’ll get right? Whose in control here? What type of intimate relationship does this represent?

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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