Friday, March 27
Read: Psalm 31:9-16; Job 13:13-19; Philippians 1:21-30
What did you give up for Lent? This is a common question we hear during the Lenten season. We commit to depriving ourselves life’s conveniences in remembrance of the suffering Jesus endured and our own reliance on God.
In Psalm 31, the psalmist describes much that has been given up and the aloneness of suffering. “I am forgotten like a dead person, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel” (v.12).
When I was a chaplain in the United States Air Force, I remember being sent to a deployed environment where many of the conveniences of life were given up and I felt deeply alone. Not having Wi-Fi or a comfortable bed was a struggle. But being without my family in a dangerous environment brough on the distress and loneliness that I suffered.
One day when I felt it could not get any worse, it did. The dining facility was shut down, and we were issued left over MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) that no one wanted. I remember picking mine up and sitting outside with a group of Airmen. One of them was named Rick.
Rick and I spent that mealtime talking about what we had given up. Our families, our friends, our favorite places to eat and many other things we missed. But then our conversation turned towards the things we had. How grateful we were for our family’s support, the people in our lives, and even the stale MREs we were struggling to get down.
But I think I was mostly grateful for knowing that I was not alone in what I was going through. That someone else was there. I left that deployment with a closer relationship with Rick, and we continue our conversations to this day.
What did you give up for Lent? The Lenten journey is not about what you give up; it’s about what you leave with.
After all the distress, fear and aloneness, the psalmist declares, “I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God’” (v.14). The main purpose of giving up life’s conveniences in Lent is not to focus on what we do without, but what we have in our relationship with God. It is a time to trust that we are not going through our struggles alone, and to leave our Lenten journey with hope in the One who has paved the way to eternal joy.
Prayer:
Holy God, as I walk this Lenten journey with You, let me be honest with myself. As I look into my heart and soul, help me notice the times I have turn away from You. Guide me as I humbly seek to repent and return to Your love. So, I may carry that love from journey’s end and evermore. Amen.
The Reverend Tyler Cox is senior pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Millbrook, Alabama. He also serves as adjunct faculty in the Religion Department at Huntingdon College.
