Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Thus says the LORD:
If you remove from your midst oppression,
false accusation and malicious speech;
If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted;
Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday;
Then the LORD will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land.
He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring whose water never fails. (Isaiah 58:9-11)
That’s quite a challenge put before us and, as I allow Jesus to speak to me through these words, what I hear is, “If you could just do this one little thing for me…!” I always want to answer “yes” but that’s not necessarily easy. Even before reading the readings for today, and, in all truth, probably for several years now, I’ve tried to start my day with this prayer – heartfelt in many ways: “Lord, help me get out of Your way, so you can work through me. That’s the only way I’ll get anything done today.” This challenge, put before me by Isaiah, can only happen if I allow God to work through me and THAT means getting out of God’s way so that he can dwell in my heart and help me get the work of the gospels done. I’m reminded over and over again that I am not alone in my struggle to be what God has asked me to be. That in God’s infinite wisdom, He offers me His grace through the Spirit. And in that unity with God, I can be the light Isaiah speaks of, that rises up through the darkness, the “watered garden” who can offer the overflowing springs of God’s love to those who feel parched and empty. And, as crazy as it might sound, I KNOW and I BELIEVE, that just by asking for that grace, it will be given to me.
So, here’s my question to you today: What does YOUR Lenten Journey look like? Do YOU need to get out of your own way, in your daily life so that you can continue the work God’s called you to do?
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