The more people hear me talking about Lent, the more I get asked why it's important. This is likely because I belong to an evangelical church, and we don't "officially" celebrate lent in any way. In fact, most people in my church probably haven't heard of Lent before!
In case you're in those same shoes, I'd love to share some of the beauty and value in celebrating Lent with you, no matter which church group or denomination you belong to.
In Ephesians 4, the Bible urges Christ's followers to "live a life worthy of the calling you have received" (v 1) and to experience "the fullness of Christ (v 13)." And then this passage tells us how to do this - By putting off the old self and putting on the new (v 22 - 24).
This transformation, powered by the Holy Spirit, is what sets the Christian life part, making us different from our old, unsaved selves, and different from the world.
Now, of course, this transformation is a process that begins at the moment of our salvation, and is to be a part of our lives every day, but I believe that Lent offers us an opportunity to intentionally look at our lives, in a way that we might not do during the normal everyday of the year, and to home in on areas of our lives where we need to be putting off our old selves and putting on the new that's ours in Christ.
This concept is where the notion of fasting, or "giving something up", for Lent comes from. The physical act of refraining from certain foods or activities for 40 days is intended to remind us to do the same in our inner, spiritual lives.
If we practice Lent in this way, our giving up chocolates or Netflix isn't just a way to feel good about ourselves, or to tick off a checklist, but it simply becomes symbolic of searching our hearts and then putting off those habits or sins or thought patterns that hinder our walk with the Lord, so that we can serve Him better and enjoy His presence more.
Celebrating the 40 days of Lent encourages us to remember who we are as a result of Jesus's life, death, resurrection, and ascension. And it will prepare us to worship Jesus more fully this Easter.
(PS If you have the time, I encourage you to read the full text of Ephesians 4 - it's powerful stuff!)
Day 10
The passage of Scripture we're looking at for today's devotional message is Psalm 13 ...
Lord, how long will You forget me? Forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? 2 How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day? How long will my enemy dominate me?
3 Consider me and answer, Lord my God. Restore brightness to my eyes; otherwise, I will sleep in death. 4 My enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him,” and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in Your faithful love; my heart will rejoice in Your deliverance. 6 I will sing to the Lord because He has treated me generously.
We all know that it's easy to come to God with praise and thanksgiving when everything's going our way. But, we also know that unfortunately, life doesn't always go our way! Sometimes life is difficult. Sometimes our situations are more than we can handle.
It's in these times that we turn to God in lament.
A lament is a prayer that begins by crying out to God from a deep sense that something is wrong with the world. When we lament, we call out to God out of our pain and despair, asking Him "Why?" and "How long?" and "Where are You?"
And if we look at how often the writers of the Psalms cry out in lament, we don't need to feel bad that we do it too, and that not every moment of our lives feels like an occasion for praise.
Even our calling out our questions and pleas to the Father pleases Him. "Our cries do not come from a lack of faith, but are, in fact, a sign of faith" (Jeremy Kreuze). Our laments please Him, because even in our sorrow and confusion we are declaring our love and trust. By crying out to the Lord, and turning to Him with our grief and exhaustion, we acknowledge that God is the only one who can help us.
This is precisely what Jesus did in both in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, when He spoke the words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Thankfully, during our times of struggle we do not need to hide our feelings and pretend that everything is all right. In the face of the pain and trouble in our world, we have the gift of lament available to us. God encourages His people to bring all of their needs before Him, and He promises that our prayers will be heard. Bringing our lament to Him is part of having an honest, trusting relationship with God.
And then, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can do what the writers of the Psalms do with every lament ... they remember God's promises and His faithfulness in the past, and they find that they are able to praise Him, even in the midst of their challenge!
Whatever may be happening in your life right now, know that you can offer it to God in prayer. And know that His promises to us never change, and that even when we can't see how He will make a way for us, He is the light we need for the journey through the valley.