Lent like a Hammock

My favorite time of the year is coming up.  No, not necessarily Valentine's Day or my birthday (although, yeah, those celebrations are great too!) No, the Lenten season is upon us.  Like Advent, it is another time in the Christian calendar year of waiting.  But unlike Advent for two important reasons.


First, during Lent we are not bombarded with media and commercials telling us we better purchase the right gifts and decorations and food for the up coming Holiday.  No, the only real difference I notice after Ash Wednesday is more fish sandwich commercials by my favorite fast food restaurants catering to those eating fish on Fridays.  Maybe the occasional Easter Bunny themed commercial later on in March and April.  Lent is not that marketed, and so it feels like more of a calm, somber time.


 Second, while Advent celebrates the waiting for celebrating Jesus' birthday and coming to earth in the form of a helpless baby (and yes, I know, historically speaking Jesus was most likely born in the spring time and not on December 25th, it is just when we celebrate it.) Lent celebrates the waiting for the entire reason why we even know this carpenter from Nazareth!  The Great I AM Himself, laid down His life for you and me so that we might become His righteousness (Romans 5:22) !  And not only that, but after he died, His physical body and spirit, He returned to life!  Sometimes I just cannot wrap my head around that.  I mean, dead, cold and dead and gone and 3 days later completely restored and breathing and walking and eating!  It is hard to believe that one day, Jesus will return (Acts 1:11).


It is hard to believe, and sometimes I doubt.  That's when I ask, "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!" I am so glad that man said that to Jesus, cause it gives me permission to say it too (Mark 9:24).


What does it mean to "believe" here?  "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whom ever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

I heard a story about some missionaries in a remote tribal area in Columbia.  The missionaries got to know the people, lived among them, and began to learn their language.  At one of the many tribal counsel meetings, the chief wanted to understand the John 3:16 verse.  The missionaries were struggling to describe in their language what "believe" meant.  Finally, one of the missionaries pointed up at the hammocks in the trees.  This particular tribe of people all slept each night high up in the trees in hammocks.  He asked, "Do you believe the hammock will hold you?  All of your body weight?"  They didn't have to say more to explain, because the people understood.  It is one thing to say, "Yeah, that hammock could hold me." And it is another thing to climb into the hammock and trust it to hold your entire body.

I like this idea of a hammock because I associate hammocks with relaxing.  And that is what Jesus calls us to.  To come and rest in Him.  Trust Him to hold us.

Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 

For me, Lent 2013 feels like a hammock.  Jesus is wrapping His arms around me, reminding me how much He loves me, and it gives me the strength I need to live for Him and invite others into, as our church says, the unexpected joy of desperate dependence on Him.