Do You Observe Lent?

Truth be told, I barely knew what Lent was until 12 years ago. 

For the bulk of my life the focus has been on Easter, and the triumph of Jesus Christ rising from the dead. 

Then, in 2010, while speaking at a conference in Oxford, England, I had the opportunity to attend the Ash Wednesday service at Exeter College in their breathtaking Victorian Gothic chapel. As I sat in that room surrounded by its magnificent carved woodwork and stained glass, I listened to a message that brought me to an understanding of Lent far beyond giving up sugar or social media.

I came face to face with a season intended for preparation.

The traditional focus of Lent, the forty days from Ash Wednesday to Maundy Thursday, is as a commemoration of the 40 days that Jesus spent fasting in the desert. 

As I sat listening to the readings from the books of Isaiah and Matthew, I was reminded that the purpose of Christ’s 40 days of prayer and fasting in the wilderness was to prepare Him for the days that were ahead of Him, as He entered His time of ministry. 

Since that awakening on Ash Wednesday 2010, I have purposefully chosen to participate in the Lenten season. For me it starts on Ash Wednesday with a time of prayer and confession and posturing myself in a way that acknowledges my humanity and my need for forgiveness, and then moves into 40+ days of specific focus on preparing for the next season that God is moving me into. 

John Maxwell says that it is during this season that “our motives get purified, our backbone solidified, and our calling clarified.” Each year that I have observed Lent in this way, I have found myself prepared by God for what was ahead. 

This Lent, I am doing a study from She Reads Truth through the book of Ezekiel. I will be sharing my learnings, as well as the prayers I’m praying between now and Good Friday. 

I am ready and expectant for God to prepare me for the season ahead by purifying my motives, solidifying my backbone, and clarifying my calling.

I hope you will journey with me through this season of preparation.