I did not like Lent when I was a kid. I hated having to give something up—it felt like a punishment. I would always be asked, “what are you giving up for Lent this year?” Chocolate was the answer most years because it’s something I loved and I thought that was the requirement; God wanted me to just sacrifice something that usually brought me a lot of joy.  

As a young adult, my disdain for Lent softened a little. I realized it was a time to prepare for Easter; a time to reflect on my priorities in life and where God fits into them. 

But I still never really looked forward to the experience. As far as my “adult” Lenten observances, I have tried giving up coffee in some years or alcohol in others. As someone who generally needs two and a half cups of coffee to get rolling each day, the coffee years were particularly painful.

No matter what I did though, it always felt like God was just asking me to be miserable in some area of my life for 40 days. Or to perform an exercise of self-discipline to build self-control in my life. Then Easter would come, and life could return to ‘normal’. 

I celebrated Easter and the Resurrection of Christ by taking my life back to where it was before Lent started. But I was missing the point.

I still thought of Lent as a cleansing exercise and Lenten sacrifice as a form of disciplining myself, which is an incomplete understanding.

Eventually, I started to better understand what God is really asking of me. After experiencing a personal encounter with God, I really started to realize that while sacrificing something for Lent was a good thing to do, being miserable because I wasn't drinking coffee wasn't what God was after. I started to think of areas in my life that were inhibiting my ability to grow closer to God—coffee didn't necessarily inhibit that relationship. I found there were other areas of my life, some of them seeming benign like TV or social media for example, but that distracted me from relationship with HIm. It stole from it.  

He is not demanding that I be miserable or forcing me to white-knuckle my way through or asking me to endure discomfort for the sake of discomfort. He is inviting me to grow closer to him through a journey with Jesus for forty days. 

During those difficult moments, I think God is asking me to double down on my trust in Him. That He is more capable than a cup of coffee or a pint of beer at bringing me lasting peace and joy. The temptation is to go back to what we know, which is why it is hard not to and to stay in that position of trust when we don't yet know the outcome of doing so.

I think God can use those 'small' pains to prepare us for the bigger challenges in life—the involuntary ones we go through when facing deep-rooted pain from circumstances, health scares, and broken relationships.

It is easier to ignore those things and muscle through them, but God wants us to experience more than that. It is why He calls us out of the daily routines that can numb us.  We need to go through that discomfort to discover the joy on the other side.

Instead of looking to deny myself something I like out of some kind of obligation, I am learning to make space. To remember that the sacrifice I make is in order that something beautiful fills it back up. Creating space to have an encounter with God and experience His love in a deeper way. 

I remember a podcast about spiritual disciplines being recommended to me once and all I could think about was the fact that I'd have to give up listening to sports radio to listen. I recoiled at it, but after trying it, I found it added a richness to my life that wasn't there before.  

What God is inviting me into is the freedom to experience His love. 

It’s not about enduring for 40 days, but using those 40 days to recalibrate my life in a way that is more aligned to God, to build a relationship with Him, and seek His will for my life.

So what does this mean for me this Lent? If I had to use one word to describe my life today, it would be busy. With a young family and a demanding job, my days do not have a lot of margins. The idea of a rich prayer life is a nice one but seems a long way from my current reality. I admit that on some nights, my time with God consists of me flopping down on the bed and saying ‘Goodnight, God’ before drifting off to sleep. 

I look at my days and realize that there are a lot of places that draw my time and attention. Somehow, I am able to fit those into my days. Considering the time I spend on social media, watching sports, or Netflix, and my attitude of being too busy to have a rich prayer life seems to melt away. 

This year, I have decided that I need to create more space for God in my life instead of trying to squeeze Him between appointments.

For me, this means reducing my TV time and taking a break from personal social media. While social media and TV are not bad in themselves, I have found that too often they become a distraction. A distraction that keeps me preoccupied from hearing God’s call in my life and from growing closer to him.

With the time normally spent scrolling or watching something on TV, I plan to give that time back to God.  I can do this by spending more time in prayer and reading, by investing it in relationships with those I love most, and by serving others. 

Lent is not a 40-Day-Challenge to be endured.  It is an opportunity for transformational change in my life. While the things I give up are temporary, my hope in God is that He will take the space I am offering and help me grow closer to Him long after the 40 days of Lent.

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