In the Christian calendar, today is Ash Wednesday. It marks 40 days leading towards Easter when we remember Jesus spending 40 days in the wilderness before being tempted by the devil. Some people will give something up for lent either as a personal challenge or for spiritual reasons.
OK, boring background bit over. I’m not going to give anything up this year. One of the reasons I hold on to hope in God is because I am constantly learning new things or having my eyes open to new experiences. I am not the worlds best Christian, and yet when I can motivate myself to spending time praying and listening and spending intentional time focusing on God, I get so much out of it. Maybe I should do that more…
And so, this Lent, I have opened a book called ‘God Hunting’ by Jo Swinney and I am going to work my way through it. The book is Jo’s journey to forming habits that will help her draw closer to God in the midst of normal life. She sets herself a challenge of trialing 1 spiritual discipline a month for 6 months.
For Jo, it was about finding God in the business. For me, it’s about finding God when I’m in limbo. Throughout this pandemic I have held onto my hope and my faith, but I have had ups and downs and I have started routines and not stuck to them. Along with many others I have been working from home, furloughed, part time furloughed, full time furloughed (again), moved house, changed routines, got tired, reached out to friends, hidden myself away…
But in this season, for the next 40 days (and maybe beyond) I am going to intentionally seek God, and like Jo did (and using Jo’s book as a guide) I’m going to document what I discover on here. Who knows, maybe someone else will find encouragement to seek God, or will find a little spark of hope, or maybe will just find something to make them smile.
And just as Jo does in her book, I’m going to begin with writing about how that particular discipline fits into my life currently, set weekly goals, report back honestly what I discover (and where I go wrong!) and at the end of the month, assess what I learned and what I will carry forward.
I am not a ‘super-Christian’. I am a normal person who gets frustrated at red traffic lights and people who block supermarket aisles with their trollies. I like wasting time playing games or watching TV. It is highly likely that I will get this wrong at some point. But I am going to commit to this for lent. I’d like to try the full six months. And if I slip up one day, I’m going to pick myself up and try again the next day.
Because although I am a normal person, I do long to have a deeper relationship with God and create habits that last longer than a couple of weeks. What about you?
(*For anyone wondering what I’m on about when I write about spiritual disciplines, read tomorrow’s post. It’s just a posh term that covers a lot of different activities!)
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