If you were to watch yourself from a distance, what would you see? If the thoughts inside your head were no longer the driving factor, no longer justifying your every move, or layering your actions with emotion, and you could see yourself from a 6 foot distance living your life, what would you see? Would you be proud of what you saw?

Imagine a reality show made on your life. A film crew that followed you through your ordinary days and caught everything. Then imagine they didn’t edit it in any way, and just let it play. Imagine sitting and watching that. Would you like you?

For most of us, we cringe over the sound of our own voice in a recording. We don’t like the way we sound, and I bet it runs deeper than that. If we could really see ourselves, would we like how we’re living and who we’re living as?

My husband and I used to watch a Netflix documentary type show called Last Chance University. The show follows troubled college football players who have lost their position at a division one school, and are now playing for a community college as their last chance at redemption. These are super talented athletes who have gotten on the wrong path in life, now fighting their way back for another opportunity to play.

At the beginning of the 2nd season, the head coach was interviewed about the first season of the show. He said he watched himself on TV and he didn’t like who he saw. He wasn’t proud of how he talked. He was embarrassed by who he had shown up as, and the cameras had caught it all.

So he came back for another season as his own act of redemption. He wanted to be someone different this time, someone better. Now when he curses at his players, he makes himself drop and do 5 pushups.

There was a time when I too saw who I had become and I didn’t like what I saw. So, I set out on changing it. Changing how I lived to be more in alignment with who God created me to be.

I began my journey to intentionally becoming more of who I am created to be about 15 years ago. I met my mentor and he challenged me to read the right books and be proactive in my own life.

One book in particular changed me. It’s one of the only book I have kept through all of our moves and travels. The book is “Be Who You Want and Have What You Want” by Chris Prentiss. Now, let me be honest, I don’t agree with everything in this book. It’s more “universe” centered than God centered, however I’ve learned I can appreciate what there is to learn and let the rest fade to gray.

At the end of each chapter in the book, there was a challenge to implement the teachings. I like challenges. I’m a doer. Theories and ideas do not impact me, I need to experience it to understand it. If you’re the same, this is a game changing challenge.

Here’s the challenge that truly changed my life: Throughout this day, see yourself from a distance. Observe yourself as you go through your day, without excuses or justifications, no backstories or motives, just watch.

Easy enough. So, after reading the chapter, I took on that challenge for the day. I couldn’t believe what I saw.

I saw a mother of 3 elementary aged children who was too busy to stop and listen.

I saw a wife who was rushed and generally self-centered on what she had to do without concern of what her husband had on his plate.

I heard myself. Oh gosh, I heard myself. I was a nagging, critical, negative, demanding drill sargent at home, and sweet as honey to complete strangers in public. Why? Because I was more concerned with what others thou...

If you’re like me, you feel like God must have lowered the bar a little to accept you with all your flaws. Like he must be bending some sort of rule to give you another chance when you weren’t faithful with the last one he offered. Like God must tolerate you, but he doesn’t really adore you. Like he’s going to let you in, but you wouldn’t be his first choice. Like you will only ever qualify for the cheap seats because something within you just isn’t quite good enough.

So, you and I walk around in this one life we have been given, playing a little less-than. Assuming last pick. You know, last pick like in gym class. I can still feel all the emotion wrapped up in hearing our Junior High PE Coach say, “Chrystal and Heather will be team captains and each choose their teams.” Chrystal chose all the popular girls first for her team. Heather chose all the athletes first for her team. And that left the rest of us, including me … the undesirable dead-weight that would surely pull the team down. Neither team wanted us, we were only chosen out of obligation.

Is that kind of what it feels like to be chosen by God? Like he had to, but you certainly weren’t his first choice. He would have preferred someone better. He would have opted for the girl without your past, without your problems, without your baggage … but you’re all that was left.

Well girlfriend, God wants you to check the source of those assumptions that have created these feelings. Did God ever say you were a burden? Did God ever say he will accept you but doesn’t really want you? Did God ever imply you were only chosen because you were all that was left?

You know that voice well. The one that says God will never forgive you. The one that says God will never be pleased with you. The one that says God will never use you for great things. Yeah, let me tell you who’s talking there … the one who got kicked out of heaven. Yes, the one who was ban from God’s glory is now down in the pits of hell trying to pull you down too. He hates to see you win. He hates to see you happy. He hates to see you confident. And he really, really, especially hates to see you praise God, because that was his job.

Did you know God created angels with specific roles?

The angel Gabriel is God’s messenger. When Mary needed to hear of this baby she would carry in her womb, God sent Gabriel with the message. When David prayed for clarity on how to proceed in battle, God sent Gabriel with a message. Gabriel is God’s messenger.

The angel Michael is God’s warrior. When there is a battle, God sends the head archangel Michael who brings victory. Michael is God’s warrior.

And then there was the angel Lucifer. He was the most beautiful of all with the assignment of leading worship. Lucifer grew jealous of God and the continual praise which he was to lead, and rose up to lead a revolt against God, persuading 1/3 of the angels to join him. And this got him fired from his position as worship leader and kicked out of heaven!

This is what God says of Lucifer. Ezekiel 28: 12-19:

“You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned.

How do you stop worrying? I mean really, you’ve got a mess on your hands and you can’t just turn off your thoughts about it. Is it even realistic to think you could ever not worry?

I assure you, it is.

In fact, when has worrying ever been successful for you personally? Really, has worry ever made a single situation in your life better? Has worry ever solved a problem for you? Have you ever walked away from a worry fest and thought to yourself, “wow, I feel so much better now that I’ve worried myself sick and considered every possible bad scenario and how painful it would be.”

Never. That has never happened.

Yet, somehow we are tricked into falling into the ghettos of worry all over again. Why is that?

If you had driven down a road before and you knew for certain it didn’t lead to where you wanted to go, why would you keep trying to get there on that road? That would be ludicrous. Here, I’m going to try this road that only goes East and West when I want to go North. I’ve tried this road several times in the past and I know it won’t come anywhere close to taking me where I want to go today, but I’m familiar with this road and the ghettos it takes me through, so I’m choosing it again. And here you are driving through the ghettos again, never getting where you want to be, only to turn around and end up right back where you started only more exhausted and frustrated.

And worry is the equivalent of getting up the next day and taking that same darn wrong road through the ghettos again, never getting where you want to go, with full awareness it can never get you there. That road will never lead anywhere different, so honey, why do you keep choosing it.

Worry does not take away tomorrow’s troubles, it takes away today’s peace. Worrying doesn’t stop the bad stuff from happening, it just stops you from enjoying the good. You know that, but dang how do you stop that? I’m so glad you’re listening today. This is for you!

Worry is a choice. I can choose to worry about it. I can choose to play out horrible scenarios in a flash and my body will literally feel the pain of all I have imagined. Has this been your choice? Worry?

Worry triggers the natural “fight or flight” response in your body. Fight or flight prepares your body to either battle for your life, or run for your life. Your thoughts create physical reactions, whether the imagined scenario is really happening or not. Your brain cannot distinguish between a real threat or an imagined threat created by worry, and it triggers your body to respond the same. The wiring within your brain responds to any perceived threat by kicking on your sympathetic nervous system. Suddenly, you breathe different and a rapid release of hormones is released into your bloodstream.

Your heart races. Not because you’re physically swimming away from a shark, but because you imagined a shark. Your thoughts send stress signals to your brain, which then triggers your adrenal glands to produce adrenaline and cortisol. In a real life scenario, this would help you swim away from that shark with supernatural speed, but because there isn’t actually a shark and you’re not even freaking in the water, you have a racing heart that is simply exhausting you. These stress hormones keep you in a constant state of high alert and anxiety because it would be important to know the shark is circling. BUT THERE IS NO SHARK and you’re exhausted all because you were worrying about it.

You feel worn out? Yip, that’s what worry does. And now, where’s your energy to actually do anything about ge...

What would you do if you really believed God was in it with you? What would you do if you knew for certain God was 100% for you? What would you do if you were totally confident it would work?

These are questions that have been stirring within me since hearing Steven Furtick’s sermon this past Sunday titled “Focus Your Faith”. Now I pass the big wooden spoon to you for a bit of stirring.

Past disappointments have limited big dreams. Future worries have hampered today’s potential. Misunderstood denials convinced you you’re not good enough and your dreams need to settle down and be quiet in the back seat. But honey, those denials were not a slammed door in your face of opportunities not available to you, those denials were sweet protection from things you just weren’t quite ready for yet. It didn’t mean never try again, it meant you’re still growing and your time isn’t here quite yet. It meant do what you can with where you are, and let God grow more within you.

But did the last denial bring you to a place of growth, or did it bring you to a place of giving up? Did that disappointment completely derail you, or did it send you on down the tracks to discover what was waiting next for you? My sister, we’ve got to stop limiting the dreams our creator has put within us. We’ve got to stop derailing this train in the bends, and stay on track knowing God is leading us somewhere good. And we have to recognize what we can do with where we are and what we already have, and actually start doing it.

We all imagine what we would do if we had unlimited resources. Oh, wouldn’t we be generous? Wouldn’t we be bold? Wouldn’t we plow through those roadblocks and make radical impact? It’s the billionaire version of our lives. What we think we would do.

Twenty years ago, one of my early mentors, Jim Rohn, taught me, “More money will only make you more of what you already are.” If you’re already stressed, more money makes you more stressed. If you’re already overwhelmed, more money will make you even more overwhelmed. If you’re already spending more than you have, more money will make you spend even more money than you have. If you’re already generous, more money will make you more generous.

And I’ve found this to be absolutely true. Who you are is not changed by what you have, it is multiplied. I know that sounds bizarre, but take a look at it in your own life. Isn’t it true? Remember when you made a whole lot less than you do right now, now you make so much more and have so much more, yet you still think even more is the answer. Somehow more will solve your problems. Nope, more will only promote more of what you’re already doing. Already overspending. Already stressing. Already wasting.

So then, let’s not talk about what you would do if you were a billionaire, because you may be delusional in your belief. Instead, let’s talk about what you’re doing right now, where you are with what you have, because this is the greatest indicator of the even bigger things you have the potential of doing.

This sermon I heard used the example of a man who said if he had more money, he would build orphanages. Then he was asked, so what are you doing right now about this dream? If you can’t go build an orphanage, are you sending a $20 donation to one monthly? Are you doing anything now?

You wouldn’t do it at a billionaire level if you won’t do the entry level version of it where you currently are. Stop fooling yourself.

And this goes way beyond money. This is true of every area of our lives. If we allow it here,

As you seek God more in your everyday life, you will begin to hear God more. You will become more and more aware of the promptings of his spirit, which are like little nudges in specific directions. For me, promptings of the spirit aren’t audible words spoken for my ears to hear, but more so a knowing deep within from a thought that completely bypassed my own thought process.

It’s that thought of, “I need to call that person right now”, when I wasn’t even thinking of them. It’s that “hey, slow down right here and look around”, when my schedule really hasn’t allotted that time. It’s my heart beating fast saying, “jump”, when I’m naturally afraid of heights. It’s that little pinging in my gut that says, “this isn’t right”, when I want to ignore it and keep going. It’s a seemingly random vision when you weren’t even looking. It’s an old dream within your soul that gets revived again.

This is hearing God. This is being prompted by his Spirit.

Yes, it’s simple. Simple to hear and simple to ignore. Simple to follow and simple to dismiss.

But God is asking us to listen. He’s asking us to start responding. He’s asking us to bypass our thought process and allow him to hijack the communication between our head, our heart, and our feet. In two words, God is asking us for this: RADICAL OBEDIENCE.

Radical obedience is a willingness to go when you don’t know exactly where. A willingness to move into action when it doesn’t make sense. A willingness to trust the one who makes all things possible is speaking to you, and you respond with a YES.

What? You didn’t think he could speak to you? You thought he could part seas, but he couldn’t talk directly to you? You thought he could move mountains, but he couldn’t drop divine thoughts into your mind? You thought he could wipe out entire armies and clear battlefields, but you didn’t think he could possibly nudge you in the right direction?

Your radical obedience is a willing next step in response to God’s prompting without justification or understanding. It’s a total surrender of details for a shot at doing anything and everything the Almighty might ask of you. It’s bypassing what your human mind can understand and stepping into the Spirit world where nothing is impossible, and saying “God, I don’t understand, but I’m in!”

Yes, I will call that person right now. Yes, I will stay in the awkward silence and not run from it. Yes, I will turn that off right now. Yes, I will open that book and start reading right where you guide my finger. Yes, I will press play and listen. Yes, I will give. Yes, I will change that. Yes, I will dedicate this time to you. Yes, I will hit my knees. Yes, I will pray boldly over this.

And here’s what I’ve found in my short time of practicing this radical obedience. Sometimes it works. Sometimes you know immediately that’s exactly what you were supposed to do. It’s absolutely divine that God led you to hear that song, read those words, talk to that person, or walk through those doors, and you know it! I love those times. Immediate confirmation of your radical obedience. Uhmmmm, yes please.

But let’s talk about the other times. The times when you call because you feel prompted, then you feel like an idiot. The times when you boldly pray because you felt stirred, and the miracle you’re seeking is denied. The times when you step out with all the faith in the world, and that door is slammed in your face. You see,

Sin. What is your view of sin? Is it a list of everything you can’t do? A list of restrictions and rules on your life? Honestly, that’s exactly what sin has always been for me. It’s the potential offenses I could be charged with as guilty, creating shame and regret.

But, what if all that is labeled as sin is more beautiful than that? Woah, I bet you’ve never thought of a list of rules and restrictions on your life that would be labeled as sin, as something actually beautiful. But here’s what I’m learning … as I understand more of who God is and his true nature, I’m understanding my twisted view on the life he created for me to live has caused a hesitation in my surrender.

What if God labeled certain things as sin, not to keep us from pleasure and fun, but to keep us from regret, to protect us from harm, to shield us from that which he knew would damage our identity in the future. What if God says “don’t do these things”, and it’s for the beautiful purpose of bringing you to the fullness of his good plans for your life, free from the burdens of paths you would mindlessly wander down otherwise.

Lisa Harper’s podcast “Back Porch Theology” explained sin like this. You would tell your toddler not to ride their tricycle into the road, right? Of course you would? And why would you create this rule for them? Because you love them and you want to keep them safe. You want them to enjoy the pleasure of their tricycle without the dangers of the road.

And God wants us to enjoy the pleasure of this life he has given us without the dangers of the world, so he identified the roads we’re not to go in. Those roads are sin. Not out of punishment, limitation, or restriction, but out of his inherent responsibility as our Father to protect us.

But nobody likes to talk about sin. In over 1300 episodes of this podcast, I don’t believe I ever have. But we’re going there today, and we’re changing our view on what we once just thought were limiting rules and restrictions on our lives of all the fun and exciting things we’re not allowed to do as Christ followers. Boxes we had to check to be good girls and make it to heaven, all while fantasizing about occasionally swerving outside of the box and seeing what happened.

Galatians 5: 19-20 “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.”

God’s word says do not be drunken. Not because he doesn’t want us to have fun, but because he knows the danger of that road. Oh how he wants to protect us from that threat when he has a full life of much more beautiful things for us. It’s not to keep you from enjoying your tricycle, it’s to keep you from being run over on it, Sis.

God’s word says don’t sleep around. Hebrews 13:4 MSG “Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex.” Friends with benefits, inappropriate flirting and conversations, shacking up before you’re married. Hey these are not rules and guidelines to restrict you, they are roads that are dangerous for you. Your loving Heavenly Father simply knows the future pain and problems this could cause and he says, “I don’t want you on that road. Keep your tricycle over here, my girl.”

The more we think of sin as the untouchable dangling fruit we never get to taste,

What if your happiness in this week has nothing to do with your circumstances, and everything to do with your thoughts in your circumstances?

Just as you can train your body to run a race or compete in a sport, you can train your mind to see the good in everything. Will it be easy? Well, is fitting a 47 year old body into spandex running shorts for the first time in 20 years easy? No, no it isn’t. Is taking old knees out on a field to do new things easy? Nothing easy about that! And so training your mind with it’s old habitual thought patterns to think in new ways will be much the same. It won’t be easy. It won’t feel natural. It may require a ridiculous amount of time and grace, but just as you can whip your body into shape, you can train your mind to do things it’s never done before.

Just how bad do you want to be happy, my sister? How bad do you want to wake up in peace? How bad do you want to feel differently on the inside and have those inside feelings create a ripple effect on the outside?

A few years ago, my family entered into a tough season of trials and turmoil. It turned my whole world upside down. I began to question my value and worth. I struggled to believe God could use me in the middle of such a mess. A little voice inside me said I was disqualified from doing good when things were so bad. That voice told me I wasn’t allowed to be happy. That voice told me I couldn’t be okay until this was all okay again.

But that wasn’t the voice of God talking to me. I checked, and that was my own voice. That was me saying those things, creating those rules, writing that story. God never once demanded my misery. He never once insisted I be unhappy. He never even suggested I lose sleep over the situation.

That was of my own doing. I had allowed my hurt and my fear to write a story of unhappiness until circumstances changed.

Have you done the same? Have you decided it is physically impossible to be happy until this changes? Have you surrendered your ability to feel joy until circumstances are different?

How’s that working out for you? Has anything changed? Has your unhappiness created an expedient change? Has your misery guaranteed a brighter future? Absolutely not. And it won’t.

But there’s something that will. There’s something you can do TODAY that will create change. There’s something you can do today that will create a brighter future. Are you open to the suggestion of trading misery in miserable circumstances for a shot at happiness here?

God and I had a little encounter. An encounter where he didn’t radically come in and fix our family, he didn’t solve the problems or reveal to me any solutions. Instead, he asked me a question. God asked me if I would choose to keep living fully, even while this extremely painful situation wasn’t fixed. Would I still wake up and find beauty? Would I still show up with my best effort? Would I seek happiness in the midst of hardship? Would I choose happiness in the ever present void of harmony within our family?

It was my choice to make, and that choice would determine more than I could possibly imagine.

And, my sister, it’s your choice to make as well. Here, in your circumstances that you so desperately want to change … Here, in the dark valley of these problems you can’t plow your way through … Here, in the harsh realities of messes you can’t clean up … God is asking you, WILL YOU KEEP LIVING FULLY WHILE YOU WAIT.

While you don’t have answers. While you don’t know the timeline. While you can’t see the way. While it still hurts.

Maybe you’re seeking God’s direction in something specific right now, but he seems to be silent. Why isn’t he answering you? Why isn’t he making this clear? Why can’t he just tell you what to do next?

It’s like Google maps on your phone withholding the next turn from you, and you’re growing anxious thinking this can’t be the right way. You’re waiting, and waiting, as you keep going and going, but still no voice guiding you with your next turn. So what do you do?

Seriously, what do you do when your GPS stops working on the highway and you have no clue where you’re at or really where you’re going? I’ll tell you what I do. I pull that car over! I find the first available gas station or parking lot, and I whip that car in, I grab my phone, and I seek direction again.

Why? Because I know I’m not getting there on my own. There’s absolutely zero chance I can navigate on my own. I’m fully dependent upon a step by step guide telling me where to turn. I will NOT continue down some unknown road without continual consultation with Google Maps.

So, there’s our answer. What do you do when you’re seeking God’s guidance, but you feel like he’s being silent? What do you do when you know a turn is needed, but you don’t know which turn is the right one? Honey, you pull this thing over and consult the guide! You grab the guide in your hands, you lean in closer, and you ask again!

I’m trying to get to the Target. This is very important. I need more of those fabulous $8 ribbed tanks in all the colors, NOW HOW DO I GET THERE? What do I need to do from where I am to get to where I need to go? When the kind lady in my Google Maps starts talking to me again, then I get back on the highway.

The process of slowing your roll, grabbing the guide in your hands, leaning in closer, and asking again is THE ANSWER!

God is always speaking to us. He is continually guiding and prompting us, we just occasionally lose the connection.

Have you lost the connection? Did you once feel like you were better guided by God than you are now? Was there a time when you felt sure of his promptings, now you’re wandering in circles not sure of your exit? It’s time to get reconnected! And God has a truly simple re-connection process for us.

We find our guide for re-connection to the guidance of God right here in the teachings of Jesus. John 10: 27-28 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me.”

The relationship between a shepherd and his sheep is our re-connection guide. A shepherd knows his sheep, and a sheep knows the voice of his shepherd. Literally. It’s not just sweet imagery, it’s absolute truth.

A shepherd may have hundreds of sheep, but he has a name for each one of them. He distinctly knows Fuzzy from Wooly, and Periwinkle from Penelope. When one is missing, he knows precisely which one it is. “Ahhhh, good ol’ Margaret has wandered off again. I know she often gets lost down in that valley where the dandelions grow. I’ll go call her out before it gets dark.”

This is Jesus with us. He knows us intimately. He knows your name. He knows your incessant love for icecream, TikTok, wine, and Amazon, which derail you and throw you into a valley of shame. He’s found you in that valley many times, and every time he has come to call you out. Never once has he given up and moved on without you. Never once has he declared you a lost cause. Without fail,

I wonder how many times we’re standing smack dab in the middle of God’s holy provision, and we totally miss it. I wonder how often God’s detailed answer to our prayers is surrounding us, yet we are oblivious in our continual state of worry.

Are we much like Jacob when he wakes up in Genesis 28:16 and thinks, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”

We’re just not aware of how God is truly in this place. How he has divinely aligned every detail for our next step along the path to his good plans for our life. How he has lovingly prepared immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine, but he’s done it so well it all appears normal.

Honey, it’s not normal that you made it through what you made it through. It’s not normal that things worked out for you. It’s not normal that you’re right here right now, because it truly was impossible. You may not have realized just how impossible it really was, but your lack of awareness doesn’t change the fact that God stepped in and made impossible things possible on your behalf. It’s not normal that you are capable of doing what you now do effortlessly. It’s not normal how you always make it through. It’s not normal, it’s a miracle!

Surely God has been at work in your life, and you were not aware of it! You never even saw what his hand protected you from. You never felt the threat that was on your heels. God has been all around you, pulling off miraculous feats on your behalf, all while you were totally clueless to his work every day of your life.

But, what if we were to become more aware? What if we had a spiritual awakening to his presence and his power, and we started seeing his hand at work in the details of our lives like never before. Imagine a day where you discover the fingerprints of God on every unfolding. It all first passed through his hands to get to you. It all was perfectly placed in alignment with his good plans, then released into your life for a purpose.

Oh, if we could live with eyes wide open to the supernatural. If we could sense his presence in every next step before us. Wouldn’t our stressful load be lightened? Wouldn’t our burdens be lifted? Wouldn’t our worries be absolutely senseless? Not that we would understand everything or have every question answered, but we would be assured of his providence over every detail.

I believe this is the relationship we are designed to have with our creator. This is what we are here to experience. We’re growing to discover eyes that see life differently.

Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6:22-23 “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!”

The Greek word for healthy implies generous. Unhealthy would mean greedy. I’ve never thought of my eyes as generous or greedy before, but really what Jesus is teaching us is if you look for God in the details of your life, your whole body will be filled with light. You will see him at work in everything. You will not only be guided by his light, but your burdens will be made light. Your journey through life will be without so many stumbles and lost wanderings. All because you are looking for God generously.

But, if your eye is unhealthy, meaning greedy and not willing to look at the fullness of God’s work surrounding you, your whole body will be filled with darkness. And isn’t this a major problem for so many of us today?

The pursuit of living well can leave us barely living at all. We are rushed. We are distracted. We are addicted. And today, on the first day of the Lent season, God takes our face into his hands and says, “Look at me.”

“I am your answer. I am what you need. I will guide you through this. I will set you free. It’s me, let me show you.”

This morning I was listening to one of my favorite Jesus girls. Her name is Lisa Harper. She’s straight up hilarious and humble, and so totally grounded in the word of God that she simply makes me want to be better. She shared her experience of visiting the temple where Jesus taught in Jerusalem. She walked the stairs Jesus walked. Stairs leading to the temple which are irregular and uneven. This isn’t because the stairs are now thousands of years old, they were built this way. Intentionally irregular. Intentionally uneven.

There’s nothing that will make you trip and fall faster than stairs placed randomly and out of alignment. Some are wide and long, others are thin and narrow. Some are short while others are tall. Honey, you can’t run up these stairs. You can’t mindlessly stroll down these stairs.

These stairs, which Jesus walked, required an unhurried pace and an intentional next step. And it was designed this way for a purpose. God didn’t want anyone running into or out of the temple in a distracted rush. If you’re rushing, or if you’re distracted, you fall. You are purposefully slowed down to take each next step.

And THIS IS WHAT LENT IS FOR US. Lent is an intentional disruption to your normal flow. Lent is an irregular and uneven step to slow you down and bring intention back to your journey.

I didn’t grow up observing Lent. Honey, I didn’t grow up observing anything other than a Christmas stocking and an Easter egg hunt. There was no Jesus in our holidays. Not because we were bad people, just because we didn’t know. I’m so grateful God didn’t meet us with condemnation and punishment for the years we didn’t know. He met us with grace and mercy and an opportunity to know better so we can now do better.

Maybe that’s why you’re here today. Maybe you’re here to learn about some things for the first time, and it’s not to point out how wrong you’ve been in the past, but how gracious God is to keep revealing new things to you in the sweetest way to help you live better.

Before Jesus went to the cross, he went to the desert. For 40 days he withdrew from all distractions and prepared himself for the path ahead. The path that led to the cross. The path he walked for us. These 40 days prepared him for his death, his burial, and his resurrection.

Now, as followers of Christ, we’re invited to use the 40 days leading up to Easter to do the same, to prepare. To withdraw from distractions. To be intentional with our steps. To be mindful of what is coming. To respond to God’s hands on our face as he turns our head and says, “look at me.”

Where have you been looking other than God? Where have you been distracted? Where have you been rushing? Where have you been running stairs and missing the whole point?

In some religions Lent is a sacred time of sacrifice and remembrance, much like an advent for Christmas. For me, it’s 40 days of walking up uneven and irregular stairs to the temple. It’s a slowed pace. It’s an intentional step. It’s a full body awareness of the upcoming celebration of the resurrection of Jesus for me personally.

Won’t you go to the desert with Jesus?