I do know it is a good time to pause in my walk of faith and reflect during this Easter season. There are approximately 40 days until we celebrate the most awesome day in history. Over the years I have paused during Lent (Ash Wednesday to Easter), giving up something or adding in something. Giving up chocolate, coffee, TV, etc. Adding a devotional, scripture reading, or blogging. At first, I think my motive was to honor my religious upbringing, it's just what we did, tradition. My motive has changed over the years, truly desiring to prepare my heart for Easter, for Jesus.
A few of us have chatted in the last few days, what will we do for Lent 2019? One Lenten season, I spent an hour every day with God and then blogged about it. It was one of my most meaningful experiences and it caused deep growth in my spiritual life. It was a difficult season, but that time with the Lord brought such healing and godly perspective. I have to admit, I've been nervous about trying anything like it since. What if it isn't as meaningful? What if I fail? What if... Can I just change that right now, what if I don't seek Him? My heart can barely stand the thought of not knowing Him more.
Last night our church presented a workshop called, "The Bible Reframed, God's Story Moves us from Misperceptions to Passion." The teacher shared the story of 4 blind men and the elephant. I think there are many versions of this, and that doesn't matter, the point is one blind man feels the tail and thinks an elephant is like a whip, one touches the leg and thinks an elephant is like a tree, another the ear, another the trunk. Each blind man decides what the elephant is by what he touches. So we also, with God's Word, decide who God is based on our limited interaction. We don't see (or seek?) the whole of who God is or the truth of who He is. We are content with knowing just a small part of Him, or a satisfied with a false version of who He is based on our own experiences or what we want out of God. Yikes...
I don't take the timing of attending this workshop as "coincidence" the night before Lent 2019 begins. As I prayed last night and this morning, I asked God to show me how to spend these next 6 weeks in light of what I heard in this class. How am I like the blind men, only "seeing" God in part? What truth have I been blind to? What misperceptions do I need to release?
I am committing these next six weeks to know God more, more fully, more accurately, with more passion. I will journal what God reveals and hopefully share some of those treasures.
There's a song playing in the background now, Simple Gospel, by United Pursuit, so good..."I want to know you, Lord, I'm laying down all my religion" ...and I will trade it for a deeper relationship with the One who already fully knows me.
