Today, Ash Wednesday commences the beginning of the season leading up to Easter and honestly, it’s one of my favorite times of the year. Not because I’m a church girl, but because any period where I am stretched spiritually always makes me better. I will not pretend that I enjoy the stretching, I just like how I feel when the stretching is over. Can I get an Amen?!
A lot of Christians practice a form of fasting during this season. Some people choose to give up a certain food or drink; however, a spirit of fasting can include restriction of activities such as television watching, shopping or social networking. Some choose to give away clothing or possessions, give time by volunteering or increase time spent in prayer. We fast to reorient ourselves away from the distraction of those things and back toward God.
Here’s what Isaiah 58 teaches us about that:
“IF you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and IF you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always…”
YOUR LIGHT WILL RISE IN THE DARKNESS.
YOUR NIGHT WILL BECOME LIKE THE NOONDAY.
Who is in a season of night?
…where things seem dark, and you can’t see the next step?
Look at this incredible promise from the Light himself, “your night will become like the noonday.” I spend most of my day talking with people (mostly teenagers, and THEN mostly the loving adults they belong to) who have been sharing about the season of hustle, hurry, do this, get this, be this, fix this, distraction, distraction, oh, and distraction, and can’t seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel of this season.
There is promise of light.
“The Lord will guide you always, he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.”
You guys, this is a promise.
God does not just make promises, He also keeps them.
The amount of distraction in our culture is ever-increasing and we have the opportunity to choose those things or choose to fix our eyes on Jesus.
The amount of hustle and hurry and doing in our culture is ever-increasing and we have the opportunity to give into that or to rest in the promises of Jesus that we are loved and accepted and wanted and desired by Him as we are, not what we (or our kids!) achieve.
I’m wondering if anyone will fast from hustle, hurry, and distraction with me this season? Is anyone else’s heart is ready to recalibrate and refocus on the goodness of Jesus and the abundant life He promises us?
…a life full of Light.
…a life full of goodness.
…a life full of glory.
…a life full of Him.
There is not one thing better than Him.
Not one.
