Lent reflections and resources

by Becky D. Livingston

I did not grow up in a tradition that observed Lent. It was much later in life that I began to understand and engage fully in this season. As often happens, those who discover a practice later sometimes embrace it with special enthusiasm. That was true for me. Lent became not only meaningful, but something I looked forward to each year. 

The shift came when I realized what Lent offers: a deliberate invitation to repentance, reflection, and prayer – an invitation we too easily neglect during the hurried rhythms of the rest of the year.

You see, my father, a faithful and devoted Christian, taught me many valuable lessons. One of them was efficiency. Efficiency is a useful gift – until it begins to shape our relationship with God. Lent gives me permission (though I should not need it) to slow down. To linger. To sit quietly in the presence of the Lord, without agenda or productivity.

In his book, With, Skye Jethani fleshes this out in his explanation that our efforts are often under God, over God, from God, or for God, when in fact the only attitude that brings us to love God as He first loved us, is the living with God.

At its heart, Lent is not about obligation but conviction. It is a voluntary and intentional drawing near to Christ through repentance, prayer, fasting, generosity, and self-examination.

In many western Christian traditions, Ash Wednesday follows Transfiguration Sunday – a profound progression. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus’ divine glory is revealed before He turns toward Jerusalem and the cross. We glimpse His glory before walking with Him toward suffering. 

Then, Ash Wednesday reminds us of our frailty. As ashes are placed on our foreheads, we hear the sobering words of Genesis 3:19: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The ashes symbolize grief over sin and the reality of our human weakness.

But the story does not end in ashes.

Lent moves us from repentance to hope, from brokenness to redemption. It slows our pace so that we might fully behold the cross – and ultimately rejoice in the resurrection. It creates space for quiet communion with the One who first loved us.

Each year during Lent, I choose several resources to guide my reflections on the sacrificial love of my Savior. This year, I am reading Pete Greig’s revised edition of God on Mute, which includes a forty-day devotional titled God Unmute: A Forty-Day Journey of Prayer. I am also reading Journey to the Cross by Paul David Tripp, a writer whose pastoral wisdom continually challenges and encourages my heart. Additionally, Morningstar Children’s Home in Brunswick, Georgia – one of our approved NCF charities – offers a free daily Lenten Devotional written by believers from across the State of Georgia. These brief reflections arrive by email each morning and have been a great blessing to me.

Lastly, I have recently been introduced to an Anesthesiologist, Dr. Robert Singleton, who posts a prayer each morning of the week on YouTube. These short prayers have helped anchor my mornings in Scripture and surrender. 

Whether you formally observe Lent or are simply seeking to draw nearer to Christ, may this season renew your hope, deepen your repentance, and quiet your spirit. May you walk slowly enough to see His glory, humbly enough to acknowledge your need, and joyfully enough to celebrate the resurrection.

For Christ, who bore the cross for our sins and rose again in glory, is the most generous Gift ever given.