Achilleion Palace, Corfu, Greece, 2012- former home of Empress Elizabeth of Austria (taken my Martha Wiggins)
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Lent is a time of introspection, repentance, and by the end, a time of complete renewal, a time of complete rebirth. Lent is a time of living in the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Introspection, repentance, and renewal do not generally occur in an instant. They are part of an overall process that takes time, often years, to culminate in rebirth. The term, a work in progress, aptly applies to most of us as we struggle to become the person God created us to be. Mistakes and failures are often repeated along the way. Being called to holiness is daunting, and yet, it is holiness that we are each called to.
I find the following excerpt from God Calling, edited by A.J. Russell, very comforting when faced with my own struggles and failures. “All miracle-work is not the work of a moment as so often men imagine. My servant Peter was not changed in a flash from a simple fisherman to a great leader and teacher, but through the very time of faithlessness –through the very time of denial, I was yet making him all that he should be. Impetuous spokesman as he always was, ready to lead the other disciples, Peter could never have been the after power he was, had he not learned his weakness. No man can save, unless he understands the sinner.”
“The Peter who was a mighty force for Me afterwards, who more than all others, founded My church, was not even first the Peter who said, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God,’ but the Peter who denied Me. He who had tested My forgiveness in his moment of abject remorse, he could best speak of Me as the Saviour.”
When we sin, it is against the l0ve of God; it is His love that we offend. The ones we love the most, we often hurt the most. During the remainder of Lent make it a priority to find time for introspection and repentance. Think about His love for you, then think about His mercy. Ask His forgiveness and experience complete renewal and rebirth in His Resurrection.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011-2013 
