We talk a lot about fighting for our freedom but Jesus offers us the freedom not to fight. As we consider the way Jesus used his freedom, to surrender, to allow himself to be arrested in the garden, even to willingly lay down his life, it should give us pause to ask ourselves how we are using our freedom.
Are we really free, or are we bound by our fears and our need for control and survival?
Do we use our freedom to fight for our own rights, or to sacrifice for the sake of others?…
In a world where staying busy is a virtue, the idea of rest often goes against the grain of our work ethic and our need to prove our worth by our productivity. Work is indeed an important part of our lives, but the blessing of rest reminds us that we are not defined by our work. Our identity is not, or at least should not be wrapped up by what we do or what we produce.
To rest is to know that we are enough simply because we are God's beloved.
To rest is to remember that we are not in control, nor do we have to be.
Let us rest this week as we learn to let God be God…
We pray for discernment all the time. We pray to know God's will. We pray for guidance in our decisions and for how to navigate the challenges we face. The question is, how long do we pray?
The wilderness reminds us that God does not answer on our timetable. The wilderness teaches us to persevere. Faith isn't about a quick and miraculous answer to prayer, as wonderful as those may be. Faith is about the long game.
In what areas of your life is God asking you to persevere right now?…
Sometimes faith is not just about what we do, but about how we do it. In the wilderness God teaches us to rely on his strength instead of our own and to recognize him as our only true source of life instead of trusting in our own abilities.
How is God inviting you to stretch your faith in the wilderness this week?…
We don't typically seek out the wilderness moments or seasons in our lives, but the hard truth is that the wilderness will always find us. What we may not realize is that this is not necessarily a bad thing. The path to God almost always leads us through the wilderness and God is with us on the journey.
As we enter into this Lenten season, I invite you to join me as we look for the many blessings springing up in the desert and bringing us new life even in the wilderness…
