Our Ministry Intern Niall reflects on his journey through Lent and how resisting temptation is bringing him closer to God.
Throughout our Lent Reflections we’ve discussed discipline in many forms.
Lent is a time where we lament our sins, recall our failings, and generally acknowledge for most of the year, we haven’t really been focusing on God as much as we maybe should. And yet, our Ministry Intern Niall loves the season of Lent.
In this week’s ‘Lent Reflections’, Niall, draws on his own journey through Lent and how his connection to God has deepened …
‘Don’t get me wrong, I am currently craving every dessert under the sun. I notoriously keep a tray of treats on my desk, and I will admit I have spent moments fantasising about the first slice of cake I’ll devour on Easter Day. And yet, somehow, despite every bone in my body aching for the return of custard creams and Bakewell tarts, I love Lent.
I, like many Christian’s fasting or giving up things for Lent, love feeling reliant on God to help me resist the temptations which we can so easily give into. There is nothing inherently wrong with most of the things we might give up for Lent, nor do the books, instruments or languages we take up mean we will enter into Heaven.
We give up or take on extra things because it is difficult, because it forces us to ask God for help, and because it helps us to refocus our lives on God. How? Because as we give up whatever it might be, we find ourselves realising that those things are not what sustain us: God is. He is what truly matters, and in the moments when I feel most tempted, my only options are either to give in, or to ask God to help me resist.
I have no doubt that I will fail but, by the grace of God, He will pick me up and help me try again. And again. And again. And each time I fail, I pray that I might draw nearer to Him and to His example. Despite, then, how much I might miss the sweeter things at the moment, for the way it draws me closer to God and refocuses me on His presence in my life, I still love Lent.’