Have you ever had those moments when you don’t feel like God sees you? When you wonder if you are truly connected to God and an object of his love and favor? I know I have felt and wrestled with those moments.
This week during Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten season, I experienced this highly symbolic moment significantly different than in the past. As a refresher, Ash Wednesday launches the season of Lent, not the stuff in your dryer, but the 40 days plus Sundays before Easter. It symbolizes the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting to discern his call and the unique ways he would live out being the Messiah-the savior of the people. In these 40 days, we remember our mortality. We came from dust and to dust we will return. We recognize our bent towards disobeying God’s commands to love him and others and our need for continual forgiveness. Psalm 51 is a traditional passage capturing King David’s plea for forgiveness after committing adultery and murder. Finally, we may fast and give up something that connects us with Jesus’ sacrifice. We may also choose to take on a spiritual practice that draws us into deeper connection with Jesus. Yes, it is a rich time filled with building relationships and connections.
Back to the original questions, what do we do when we don’t think God sees us or when we feel so apart that we don’t recognize his love and favor towards us?
COVID-19 made the Ash Wednesday experience radically different. Normally, I would attend a service at a church. The C-19 mitigation from our church was compiling Ziplock baggies with some ash, collected by burning the palm fronds from last year’s Palm Sunday, a prayer of confession, and two devotional booklets. Families and small groups could now gather and/or participate in the online service. Instead of our pastors putting ashes on each other’s heads, now we would do that for each other. Talk about the priesthood of all believers!
I gathered with two friends who are part of a small discipleship group. Ash Wednesday was not a common experience for them, so it was awesome seeing how they connected as we each put the sign of the cross on each other’s foreheads. Together, we are reading a book called, “Becoming the Beloved”, and this helped us connect with the beautiful reality that God calls us his beloved! He loves us, cherishes us, and sees us.
The cross on our head reminds us we are sealed by God. He does see us! He chose us as objects of his love and developed a plan for us to be in connection with him and others for now and eternity. I pondered how the horizontal beam of the cross reminds me of my humanity. We rise with Christ and are born anew, and we will also lie down when our physical life ends. Eternal life is promised and represented in the vertical beam of the cross. We connect with God in spirit. He initiated this work in us when he created us, and we are objects of his love and favor. He sees us!
I pray these next 40 days will be a time of prayer, reflection and drawing closer to God. When you see a cross and the horizontal beam, remember our physical life is finite. We have a purpose for being here of which God ordained for us when he created us. He gave us the unique skills and attributes for accomplishing this purpose. As you view the vertical beam, recall you are an object of God’s love and favor. He created you and is seeking you to be in full fellowship and connection. During this season, hear his bid to walk in his direction!
Much love to you in this 40 -day season!
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