Lent

What are you looking forward to this Lent? That was my journal prompt today. Looking forward to Lent? What a crazy concept! I look forward to Fat Tuesday, for sure, and the almsgiving and prayer make sense. But the fasting and sacrifice? That hits a little different. Penance isn’t punishment, and neither should be Lenten sacrifice. So why do we do it? What do we get out of it? What does God get out of it? What am I looking forward to this Lent?

I plan to do a relatively “hard Lent,” giving up some things that will be more difficult than chocolate and doing some things that will take some commitment as well, and I am actually looking forward to it.  Still, when I saw the journal post, I didn’t know why.

First, I thought about why we would choose sacrifice that isn’t thrust upon us. Is it because we’ve realized that we tend to be closer to God when we need him the most?  Like we know we cry out to Him when we’re at the bottom of a pit, so we figure if we just lay down in a ditch of our own choosing for a little bit, we’ll be closer to God without all the big calamities?

My husband sent me a video this morning of a former Navy Seal talked about Gen Z. He spoke about what it meant to not be afraid.  Suddenly, the major them of Exodus ran through my mind, which I’ll paraphrase as, “Fear not . . . the Lord Himself will fight for you . . . you have only to be still.”

Then the seal talked about another guy who was so superior at everything, but he quit the first time he failed.  The seal pointed out that you can be skilled, determined, and prepared, but in battles, failure is gonna happen sometimes, because “the enemy gets a vote.”  But we don’t give up. That failure can make us even stronger. 

Paul, in talking about his thorn in the flesh, said that the Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you.  My power is made perfect in weakness.” Then he said, “I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities, for when I am weak, then I am made strong.” (2 Corinthians 12)

And Elijah, when he was “jealous for the Lord,” and wanted Him so badly.  God told him to stand on a mountain, and there was a wind so strong it tore the mountains, but God was not in the wind, and then an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake, and then a fire, but God was not in the fire.  After all of this, God spoke in a small voice.  (1 Kings 19)

So what am I looking forward to this Lent?  I’m looking forward to being made stronger in weakness, being still, and listening for God’s voice.