Category: Devotional

Reflections on Lent

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16)

As a child, the beginning of Lent was really all about Shrove Tuesday – Ash Wednesday never entered into the picture! Pancakes (crepes) were what it was all about.

But Ash Wednesday is the true beginning of Lent. Lent is really one of the key Christian traditions, a period in the calendar where followers of Christ prepare themselves for Easter, and all that it represents. 

Most of us are more familiar with Advent. Advent is celebration of anticipation. That’s easy in the 21st Century with the thick layer of commercialism that overlays it. We look forward, expectant, for the coming Christ, but also the presents under the tree!

Lent has no such drivers.  Neither is it commercially marketable.

But Lent is core to our Christian journey – because of what Christ accomplished; it’s core to every one of us.

Advent is outward anticipation; Lent, though, is about inward reflection, an honest reflection of who I am in the light of God. This is not something we should fear, but rather something we should embrace.  We embrace it because it is the doorway to grace in our lives, increasing grace, growing grace.  We look toward the cross – but we then look beyond it.

Modern life does not deal well with despair and sadness, which is an element in Lent, but it does not stop there – it points to the hope in the resurrection.

During the Lent season, we come to terms, or at least we grapple with, the human condition, my human condition.

The Cross is where our faith stands when all other faiths fail. Christ’s sacrifice and his subsequent resurrection are the true “cruxes” of the Christian faith. Without one there would be no salvation, without the other, no hope.

The Cross is, in many ways, the ultimate “reality check.” It confirms that sin really has a consequence. And reminds us that Adam and Eve’s ‘fall’ was unbelievably costly.

What does all this mean for us?  What is Lent really all about for me?  In a nutshell, it is about opening our hearts to God’s refining. It gives us an opportunity to be honest with ourselves—a focused opportunity for personal reflection. We can do this any time of the year, and day of the year, any hour of the day.  But Lent gives us a focal time, a hook, a timeframe, a shared journey with the community of Christian brothers and sisters.

But it’s not about dredging up things for which we can berate ourselves. This is about putting ourselves at the feet of Jesus, putting ourselves into a listening, penitential mode, that invites the Lord to walk with us as He chooses, as we open ourselves and make ourselves vulnerable to him.

Lent is a wonderful opportunity to enter into the journey Christ took to the cross. It’s a journey through suffering to hope. And it ends with the wonder and freedom of Easter.

The Power of Gratitude

The power of gratitude wowed me when I first met our new neighbor, Della. She was in her 80s when we moved in next door, and she greeted us with a beaming smile and a litany of how happy she was to meet us. In subsequent encounters, which were frequent, she never failed to talk about how grateful she was for her life and how much God had blessed her.

Della radiated joy. And I thought, “That’s the way to live!” Even as dementia took her memory, she continued to do a little dance and recite her gratitude on a daily basis.

Della embodied one of my favorite quotes by 19th Century theologian, Alexander Maclaren.

“Seek to cultivate a buoyant joyous sense of the crowded kindnesses of God in your daily life.”

I love the words Maclaren uses—buoyant, joyous, crowded kindnesses. I can’t help but smile thinking about the picture he paints.

So many kindnesses. So much love. A God who crowds us with His kindnesses. A God who tells us to be grateful because He knows it will make us joyful. We can be buoyant—able to stay afloat no matter what—when we are grateful. This is the abundance of life God wants for us!

The Link Between The Power of Gratitude and Joy

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (another 19th Century theologian) said “Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.”

Joy is not something we produce. It’s something we find in the presence of God.

How do we get into God’s presence? We worship Him. We thank Him. (Psalm 100:4)

Being thankful is our way of saying, “You are good, Lord. And what You do is good. What You choose for my life is good. I trust You.”

Expressing gratitude is like planting a seed, and joy is the fruit that grows from it. We plant a seed without seeing its fruit. We just trust that something good will grow from it. It’s an act of faith. And the harvest we reap is joy.

A life filled with thanksgiving is a life that gets better and better. And I’m not talking about faking it, speaking in Christianese, or posing. I’m not saying we should ignore the trials we’re in.

I’m talking about thanking God (along with being honest about how hard it is) in the middle of those trials—if only for the fact that He promises He is with us during them. I’m talking about being on the lookout for things to be grateful for—regardless of what’s not going well on any particular day.

Not Just an Ancient Teaching

Aside from the fact that we are commanded to be grateful in the Bible (1 Thessalonians 5:18), gratitude is just a healthy practice for life. Even modern-day psychologists report this. In 2007, Robert Emmons began researching gratitude through a psychological lens. He found that expressing gratitude improves mental, physical and relational well-being. Being grateful impacts the overall experience of happiness, and these effects tend to be long-lasting.

Author Ann Voskamp said, “Being joyful isn’t what makes you grateful. Being grateful is what makes you joyful.”

If we want good mental health and a good life, gratitude needs to become a habit.

Lessons in the Power of Gratitude

Westerners who go on short-term mission trips often comment on the joy they see in people they work with. We are astounded that someone who lives in poverty can be joyful. But the same lessons of gratitude that apply to us apply to everyone. A lifestyle of gratitude doesn’t take away problems, it just makes them easier to bear.

A man who knows the power of gratitude.
William is grateful for training to become a fisherman.

William in South Sudan is an example of a grateful person. He was unable to provide enough for his family until he learned to fish. Now he has food for them, and an income.

William said, “I’m really thankful to God because I tried different things until I found this really was the main source of my livelihood. I previously didn’t know how to fish, so I asked people to show me and also learned by observing. Fishing is very beneficial to my family.”

Hla (name changed for protection) is another example of the power of gratitude. She lost everything when her home was burned to the ground and she escaped Myanmar with her family. After walking for nine days to reach Bangladesh they entered a refugee camp. The work she had in Myanmar was not available in the camp, but she was given an opportunity to learn how to sew and she took it.

A woman who knows the power of gratitude.
Hla has overcome many hardships, and she is grateful.

Hla said, “If I learn this work, I can keep my children safe. I can provide them an education. No one can steal or buy my skills.”

Instead of complaining over her circumstances, Hla expresses gratitude for aid workers. She said, “Without God, how can we live? God has created us and sent us into this world. He is giving us everything and feeding us. He is doing this through His agents.”

An Evergreen Virtue

Thanksgiving is a great time of year to be reminded of the power of gratitude. We generally make our “I’m grateful for” list sometime around this holiday. And at our house we go around the dinner table and say what we’re thankful for while feasting on turkey and favorite side dishes.

But gratitude isn’t something we take out of the closet for a certain holiday every year. It’s something that should be at our table, and on our lips, all year long. It’s evergreen.

Our neighbor Della lived to be 97, and I never tired of her grateful litany. In fact, I sought it out. Her joy lit up our lives, every single day.

Let us know what you’re grateful for in the comment section below. Share what you do to maintain a grateful heart. We’d like to hear from you and share your thoughts with others.