“What are you giving up for Lent?” my son, Christian, asked me today. “Meat,” I said (among other things, but I’ll save that for next week’s blog). Being a huge carnivore like me, Christian responded, “Wow, that will be a really good sacrifice.”
But more than giving something up for Lent, I believe the Lord calls us to do something more for Lent. And by more I mean that we are called to take an honest look at ourselves during Lent—at our doubts, our poverties, our attachments and at what gets in the way of our relationship with the Lord.
Lent is not a time for superhuman feats, where we strive to be “spiritually” faster, higher and stronger, as they say in the Olympics. It is, instead, a time for supernatural exposure, where we quiet ourselves before God and ask Him to help us become slower, lower and weaker. When we get slower, lower and weaker, God can move in our lives with His strength, perfecting His power in us in and through our weaknesses (2 Cor. 12:9). That description of God’s movement sums up the story I tell in my book, Miracle Man, where God miraculously and repeatedly demonstrated His power at a moment in our lives where my late husband Bernie and I were at our lowest and weakest.
With this in mind, I am offering a free Lenten Reflection Guide that is meant to prompt honest prayer, reflection and spiritual growth during this holy season. The Reflection Guide, which provides thirty-three short Lenten meditations (one to go along with each chapter of Miracle Man) is available as a free download on my website at http://memorareministries.com/chaos-free. By reading one short chapter of Miracle Man each day in Lent and pondering the corresponding reflection question, I hope that you will realize the happy reward of attaining a better understanding of yourself and a deeper relationship with God.
I wrote Miracle Man to remember the miraculous ways God worked in our lives, and to encourage others to trust in what God can do for them, too. It is my hope that in praying through Miracle Man and the Reflection Guide this Lent, God will unveil your eyes to see His power working in your life. And that He will help you make room for more.
Get a copy of Miracle Man here.
Get a FREE download of the Lenten Reflection Guide here.
Lenten Virtual Book Tour
I also want to let you know that I will be launching a virtual book tour this Lent. Many thanks to the wonderful folks who will be interviewing me and reviewing Miracle Man! I really hope to connect with you all during this tour and hear how God is working in your lives.
Please join me at memorareministries.com/virtualbooktour to see where I’ll be visiting and how you can participate.
With prayers for grace and growth for all of us this holy season.