Giving My Lent Away.

Tomorrow (Wednesday, March 9) begins yet another season of Lent – a period of time when believers from all over the world seek after the presence of God through various means of self-denial, prayer, and repentance in honor and commemoration of Resurrection Sunday (Sunday, April 24).

For the past few years, I have given up everything from meat and carbonated drinks, to cell phones and social media in honor of the Lent season. As I began to toss around what I would sacrifice again this year, I somehow landed on a very familiar song (and video)…

After listening to this song (over and over again), I began to wonder what it would look like if over the next 40+ days, I pressed the pause button on some of MY personal prayers and desires from God, and instead became fixated on aligning my faith with the faith of others concerning what THEY are in fact seeking from God during this time.

Since relocating to the city of Austin, Texas (just a few months ago), I have literally been consumed with trying to figure out what God has in mind concerning me and my family in this new season of our lives. Although my wife and I both had amazing clarity as to WHERE we were going to move, if I can be quite honest, we were not exactly sure as to what we were going to be DOING once we arrived in terms of long-term vocations.

1 Kings 17:2-4 has truly come to life.

So what do you do when you are waiting FOR a new assignment? What do you do when you’ve been sent to a great brook, but have been postured to depend on a raven system to eat, drink, and support your family? A friend of mine (via a recent status update) gave me a great answer to both of these questions:

“If waiting is your assignment in this season…do so patiently and with earnest expectation…”

For years I have understood and appreciated the need to wait FOR an assignment, but never took the time to consider whether or not waiting can BE an assignment in and of itself. So after a few long nights, and a few UFC-style wrestling matches with God, I now wholeheartedly believe that is exactly the assignment He has given me right now.

To wait.
To simply just wait.

So with this in mind, I have decided to do something a bit different during Lent this year.
I have decided to give my Lent AWAY.