The church year · Lent · Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday, forty days
You don’t have to keep God happy. He’s already glad you came.
Fear says stay back. Since the garden, God has been calling people closer. Lent follows Jesus into the wilderness, where he faced temptation for us and with us (Matt 4:1–11).
You count your quiet times like payments on a loan. When something bad happens, a small voice asks if it’s because you skipped church. After a mistake you approach God the way you’d approach a boss, rehearsing your explanation in the hallway. If Lent feels like forty days of trying harder not to get in trouble, you’re not alone.
Four tired ways through Lent
Which one sounds like you this year?
What’s true hereGod is holy, and taking him seriously is right. Repentance and self-denial are real gifts. The bend comes when obedience turns into a bargain to keep God from being angry.
Fellow travelers
We aren’t the first to walk this way.
- Adam and Eve hid among the trees because they were afraid. God came anyway, asking, “Where are you?” (Gen 3:8–10).
- Israel at Sinai heard the thunder and chose distance: “Speak to us yourself… do not have God speak to us” (Ex 20:18–19).
- The one-talent servant buried what he was given and explained, “I was afraid” (Matt 25:24–25).
The son came home with a speech about being a hired hand, and the father ran to him and never let him finish it (Luke 15:20–22).
Where the Shepherd meets us
The destination of every season is the same: God himself.
- We haven’t come to the mountain of smoke and fear. We’ve come to Mount Zion, to joyful gatherings, to Jesus (Heb 12:18–24).
- When Jesus died, the temple curtain tore from top to bottom. God opened the way from his side (Matt 27:51).
- Our high priest knows our weakness from the inside, so we approach the throne of grace with confidence (Heb 4:15–16).
- The Spirit teaches us to call him “Abba, Father” (Rom 8:15). Perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:18). When you need to name what’s gone wrong, the confession guide Us with God and Sin can walk you through it without the dread.
Begin your prayer each day of Lent with one word, “Abba.” Then spend two minutes with him not apologizing.
Keep walking
- Us with God and Sin
- Under God: Sheep that hide from the Shepherd
- Us with God and Shame
- The Calendarthe whole year at a glance