Lent(ils)

It's the beginning of the lenten season, one of the holiest times in the Christian calendar, and as I sit in a coffee shop thinking about the weight of what this season means, I am struck by the gravity of my occasional abuse of grace. As I have indicated in previous blogs, I have at times been guilty of pursuing my own goals with God as the supposed focus, but myself as the true aim. It's something we all struggle with- I get that- but it's something to be confronted with the reality of our own selfishness and to be asked by a holy God to let him be God in our lives. It's overwhelming to think that there's a plan that has been set in motion before the foundation of the earth and here I am trying to make it work, as if my actions can make or unmake God's ultimate will. It's much easier to submit and let God be God in my life without him having to continually humble me (as he has had to do of late). But none of that is the point of this blog (I know, but you should be used to my digressive ramblings at this point).

Lent is about reflecting on the days leading up to the death and resurrection of Christ. This season is about thinking through how God was so desirous of our restoration that he was willing to sacrifice so much so that we could be drawn back to Him. What's even more marvelous to me though, is the idea that God still allows us to "taste and see that the Lord is good." I mean, with that much sacrifice, He is still willing to give us the latitude to taste His goodness, kick the tires, and test His faithfulness out for ourselves. His patience is outstanding, but I guess when you're eternal, 6 or 2 or 10 or 20 years of wandering in the proverbial wilderness are nothing. Thank God for His eternal patience.

As I enter into this lenten season, I am entering with a perspective that I don't think I've had in any previous season of my life, lenten or otherwise. I am a part of a greater plan that I didn't start and can't finish. I am a part of a greater story for God's glory and I was created to bring glory to the name that is above every name and who is seeking to draw all people to himself. It's extremely liberating to know that it's not my deal to start, fix, or finish. My deal is to submit and ask God, "what's next?" My job is to move out of the way so that God can be fully God without me fighting to wrest control for my life and my part of the story from his grasp. It's freeing to know that my days were planned out, and while there is a part that I must play (faith without works is dead and all), ultimately it is on a path that God is leading me down if I would just let Him. So, this lent, my prayer is for the continued revealing of how I am supposed to play my part in the greater story. How are my days to be counted amongst the scores that have gone before and will come after? How am I to be my beloved's and he be mine?

What's your focus and prayer during this lent?