Identifying Discontent

The lights are low and the night has fallen. My children wait anxiously for our final prayer of the night and the Amen that sends us to peaceful rest.

True understand of Christ's path to the Cross is yet to sink deep in them but they Do Know He Died for them. To save them from Sin and give them Heaven. Their understanding while simple is pure. They LOVE Him because they must. Their nature longs to worship Him. He died for them. He must be important. He must be Love.

I stand in awe of their unfaltering love. As they emphatically exchange with the neighbor about the truth of God and Jesus' love. His avoidance says much.

They are unashamed. Content in His love.

Am I the same?

Devotions for Lent sits in my lap and I ponder whether they will understand what I read to them and I quickly pray for the Lord to speak to their hearts while the mind might falter behind.

We read...

"The tradition of Lent--a forty-day sacrifice--is one way of mourning the death that sin has caused in our lives. As we see Jesus perfectly withstand Satan's temptation in the wilderness, we admit our own shortcomings, our own inadequate sacrifices. This period of "giving up" has a profound way of recalling our desperate need for Jesus Christ."

I peer up from the pages. Their sweet faces peering back at me from their bunk bed railings. Two bodies per bed, stuffed between the sheets...they want to be together...whatever the cost.

Do I feel this way for Jesus....whatever the cost?

I tell them more of Jesus' temptation in the desert and explain the "giving up" to remember Him.
He trialled against Satan in those 40 days. Completely gave himself over, denied flesh, relied on God, and held tight to the Hope of the Resurrection.

My oldest, only five short years old, heading into his sixth year in only months ahead, immediately tells me he can give up Movies..."hmmm, for five days".

I am Humbled...

He, the man child, grasped the "giving up" and was willing. More discussion and remembering the littlest ones, we decided candy would be the thing to go for five days. They agreed, not at first, but with time and encouragement.

Friday's dawn began their Lent and their hearts were soft with no begging or discussion. 1 simple reminder and they relented the desire. No talk of it since. The freely gave to Him what they held so dear (sadly Candy is dear).

Even the small can remind us to press on and live loudly the Love of Jesus.

Again from the book...

"The season of Lent is puzzling to many. Denying ourselves our favorite treats or habits--even for a short time--seems archaic in our I-want-it-now culture. ...It's a season marked by deliberateness and intentionality. The practice of Lent can be a valuable discipline. It's difficult to grasp what our sense of entitlement does to our bodies and souls. Our culture worships at the feet of pleasure. As we "shovel it in", we can become desensitized to our needs--the real hungers in our lives."

"People do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." ~Deuteronomy 8:3

"It invites us to jump off the hamster wheel of consumption and experience the pinch of abstaining from thoughtless indulgence. " ~Eileen Button (Devotions for Lent)

She compares the glorious, hollow, chocolate, Easter Cross to our own lives. Sweet and pretty on the outside, but "tragically empty".

We prayed

Great and holy God
awe and reverence
fear and trembling
do not come easily to us
for we are not
Old Testament Jews
or Moses
or mystics
or sensitive enough.
Forgive us
for slouching into Your presence
with little expectation
and less awe
than we would eagerly give a visiting dignitary.
We need
neither Jehovah nor a buddy--
neither "the Great and Powerful Oz" nor "the man upstairs."
Help us
to want what we need...
You
God
and may the altar of our hearts
tremble with delight
at
Your visitation
amen.

~Frederick Ohler

"Occasionally, the reality of Jesus Christ's sacrifice and the power of his love break through our hardened hearts. The realization causes us to gasp. The hollow parts of our souls can be filled." ~Eileen Button