Takeaways From Lent

Time is a funny thing. In a way, I feel Lent flew by; yet Ash Wednesday also feels like a long time ago. Today I wanted to share some of the things I learned over the weeks when I was offline.

Set Guidelines When Fasting: If you plan to do a fast of any kind, it’s important to map out the rules you want to adhere to. If you step into a fast too vaguely (something like “try to spend less time on social media”) it will never work. Before Lent started I made a list of things I wanted to remove from my routine, as well as things I wanted to add to my day. My initial step was sound. However, I didn’t refer to the list throughout Lent. This means I fell short with some of my goals. In hindsight, I should have looked at the list each day in order to keep myself on track. (Note: I admit I tend to try to take on too much at once. Even when fasting. I had too many items to focus on. I did do well with the main item, though. And that was to stay offline – social media and blogging.)

Don’t Be Too Hard On Yourself: Regarding the items for which I didn’t reach perfection, I didn’t beat myself up about them. I might regret that I didn’t do better, but I don’t necessarily feel guilty. For example, one of the things on my list was to not complain. Did I master that? No. In this case, this is a bad habit. It is not something we can easily turn off or on, like a light switch. Therefore, this is something I aim to keep working on.

Seek the Lord: One main point of fasting is to seek the Lord. So day by day my actions should reflect that. At the end of a fast we can look back and ask ourselves, “Did I spend more time with Jesus?”

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. – Psalm 63:1

Pray: Another main point of fasting is prayer. Oftentimes when we are fasting for a particular cause (for example, perhaps we want to see healing for a loved one), it is key to add more prayer time in your day. With traditional fasting (giving up certain foods or meals) you would pray during the hour when you would’ve normally been preparing dinner and eating it (for example). My fast didn’t include food this time. However, I did start off Lent with a prayer list. I used that list throughout the weeks to keep my prayers focused.

Keep a Prayer Journal or List: With that being said, I recommend keeping a prayer journal or prayer list at all times. One day during Lent when I was going over the prayer list, I was amazed at how powerful prayer is. I could see areas where God had come through. He heard and He answered. When we can see items on our prayer list get checked off, it leaves us in awe of our miraculous God, and it makes us want to keep leaning on Him.

Protect Your Time: After about a week into Lent, I was reflecting on how much more productive I was. I had more mental clarity and I accomplished more. Then I put two and two together and realized it was because my time and energy was protected. I believe we all should set boundaries on how much time and energy we spend on different things in our lives. We each might have different needs in this area, so I will talk generally about what this means for me. You may want to pray about it to see how God wants you to protect your own time. Personally, now that I am on the other side of Lent, I hope to keep particular guidelines in place pertaining to checking my email, social media, blogging, etc. Especially on weekdays. Prior to Lent I would look at my phone first thing in the morning, and that affected my day. Now that Lent is behind us, I have been trying to put some of those things aside until my lunch break. Mainly for me this is email and blogging. (I am not big on social media in general. However, one thing I did miss during Lent was posting pictures of the sunset on Instagram, which was something I had done a lot of in the weeks prior to Lent. It was uplifting to capture God’s beauty and share it with others.)

Mental Health: This point is tied to the one above. Not only did I have more clarity and productivity, I also felt more at peace. When I have a lot on my plate, that equates to pressure. And pressure is what gets me frustrated and upset. I want to be able to handle everything that comes my way. But the reality is that I cannot do it on my own. So by protecting my time and energy, this leaves space in my soul for the Lord to come in and help me. He is my strength and I need to remember to lean on Him.

Ruthlessly Eliminate Hurry: You might have heard of a popular book called The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry written by pastor John Mark Comer. However, if you didn’t actually read the book, then you might not know the phrase wasn’t originally his. And it wasn’t even said to him firsthand. Yet it was powerful enough to inspire him and countless others. The story goes that John Ortberg, another pastor and author, called Dallas Willard, a Christian philosopher, and asked him what he needed to do stay spiritually healthy. The answer was, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life … Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” I read this book a few years ago and I need to read it again. But anyway, I have a point here! Again this is tied to the two items above. As I mentioned above, I found that overall I was more at peace during Lent. Intentionally slowing down played a part in that. A lot went on in my life over the weeks while I was gone. Much of it was stressful. Yet one day when I was standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes, I was amazed that this chore was actually a bit soothing. Prior to Lent, when my life was hurry and hurry some more, I would not have found washing dishes to be a tranquil task! Obviously I wasn’t one hundred percent at peace. If I were then I would have kicked complaining to the curb! 😜 Nonetheless, I did have more peace and when you discover that feeling, it makes you want even more of it!

“Gratitude and murmuring never abide in the same heart at the same time.” – E. M. Bounds

Hold Everything Loosely: One thing I am trying to remember is to hold everything loosely in my hands. We all make plans, and they range in size. For example, we might plan to eat yogurt for breakfast or we might plan to acquire a college degree. Our plans don’t always work out the way we expect. I tend to get frustrated when my plans get overturned. So I am trying to remember to hold everything loosely in my hands, take it all in stride, and embrace whatever comes my way. This is easier said than done!

Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room – why am I posting today when prior to Lent I was posting on Thursdays? I apologize if this disrupted anyone’s routine. But I felt moving my posts closer to the weekend would help me stick with some of the new guidelines I am putting in place for myself.

I could write a bit more, but this post is already a bit lengthy. So I will let you get back to your day. Thank you for stopping by and reading. I am honored that you took time out of your day to be here. If you had any takeaways from Lent or Easter, please share in the comments.

© Bridget A. Thomas 2023