So for Lent this year, I've been convicted that what I'm supposed to do is rest. I don't necessarily mean getting more physical rest or clearing my schedule...but I'm supposed to rest in the Lord.
My activistic personality has often viewed Lent as a time for cultivating discipline and good habits. Ash Wednesday can feel suspiciously like New Year's Day--a day for making resolutions of self-improvement in my spiritual life. And I won't say I haven't benefitted, some years, from embracing a new discipline.
But this year, God is giving me things to do that aren't do-ing. This morning's psalm, Psalm 37, really spoke to me with action verbs that are all about resting:
Fret not yourself...
Trust in the Lord...
dwell...
befriend faithfulness...
Delight yourself in the Lord...
Commit your way to the Lord...
trust in him...
Be still before the Lord...
wait patiently for him...
fret not yourself...
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself
It's interesting that "Fret not yourself" is repeated three times in this passage! But it's not just a "stop worrying" message; we are told what to do instead. Trust, dwell, delight, commit, be still, wait patiently, "befriend faithfulness." Such an interesting phrase!! It speaks to me of this steadfast rest in the Lord that I'm feeling called to.
So this year, it's not going to be a "try-harder" Lent. Oh, I am giving something up; we always give up dessert as a family, plus my discipline will be: Bible before Facebook! It's so easy to mindlessly browse first thing, before my brain gets in gear, but instead of opening up Facebook, I'm going to open up my BCP (Book of Common Prayer) app and listen to the lectionary readings while I'm making coffee. (Priorities!) I want to start my day by trusting, dwelling, delighting, waiting and all the rest. Pun intended, I guess. --All the rest that God wants to pour into me when I rest in him.
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