Lent Day 15 – The God Among Us

These 40 days of Lent, actually 15 so far, have been an intentional process of taking a break from the distraction of busyness, the noise of the latest opinions and issues, as well as the choking pressure of more. Jesus’ venture into the wilderness for 40 days has been the framework to keep me focused on my Lent journey. Today, was somewhat different. It was the day, or better yet, the evening in which I didn’t encounter God in a lonely wilderness, rather He showed up in group of people. Each week a group of people from our community of faith gather to talk about our lives, encourage each other and pray. Lately, there has been some really, really challenging and scary circumstances in the lives of the people we gather with. We have learned a lot about each other, supported each other and watched God work in our midst. I love the diversity of our group that goes well beyond mere demographics. We have different experiences, faith perspectives, histories and ambitions. Yet, we are bound by love and grace.

We took a risk with our prayer time tonight. Instead of gathering the requests and then going around to pray for the requests, we sat together in a few minutes of silence. We let ourselves move into and through the awkward silence to try to open up a little bit of space to listen, to pay attention to the promptings of God in us and around us. This is not a typical practice of our time together. It felt very risky, vulnerable and somewhat weird. But, the instruction was to sit in silence, listen and then pray about what we heard. If we weren’t sure about what we heard, or if it was truly from God, we took the risk of just going for it anyway.

It was amazing what the group ended up “hearing.” There were great reminders to ask, seek and knock, to persevere after the heart of God in our prayers. We were reminded that God leads to places of rest, peace and fulfillment. We were reminded that God desires our wholeness and works to make us whole-hearted people. We were reminded that God still gives renewed life to the dead places within us. The time together was a great reminder that God was still speaking, reminding us of who He is and His desire for us. Mostly, it was a tremendous reminder that, even in my season of obscurity and less, God is not to be experienced alone. He is a relational God and continually shows up in my relationships with others. The more I get to know others and the more I let them in on me, the more God seems to show up in our midst. It was risky tonight, it was worth it. I’m grateful to walk my faith out with others, no matter how different they are from me. For today, I will pay close attention to the God among us!