How cluttered our minds often are.
It’s easy to be distracted, to get distracted, to not hear the messages God sends, because we’re too busy stuck in a constant barrage of chaos.
This past weekend at church, the first Sunday of Lent, Fr. Steve reminded us how Lent– a walk in the desert– is a time to clear our minds and our hearts. It’s an opportunity to remove whatever keeps us from hearing God and his plans for us.
Often, my prayer to God is asking that I hear his messages for me, particularly when I’m at church and many distractions are removed from me (except my mind which is probably, easily, my biggest distractor of all). I’m there for an hour and it’s at that time where I feel like, in the slow down, I have that opportunity to hear what I need to know. It’s like picking up my messages for the week, of what I need to know to go forward into the next week.
But I also view Lent as a chance to do something extra to work toward hearing God better. I’m not someone who gives anything up, especially because the anniversary of my sister’s suicide falls during Lent, a reminder of something very large that I lost as I was reaching young adulthood. Instead, I look to do something that helps me work on hearing God better, something I can continue to build on even after Easter has passed.
Many years, and this year it is, it’s about a writing project. I like to keep exactly what I’m doing private until I finish it, however, I will say that writing and all my creative endeavors draw me closer to God. The inspiration runs high because I prayed so hard and so long for guidance. What am I supposed to do? Whatever it is, help me do it. Help me to move forward.
I listened, I pushed the distractions away, and the answers came. During this Lenten season I’m grateful for all that pushing forward and in my desert walk this year I’m finetuning the listening for what comes next.