Mettle Detector

There's an old saying: character is demonstrated by what you do when no one is watching.

There are some individuals who almost brag about what they will not do during Lent: they "give up" candy, or movies, or some other favorite activity or food.

Jesus gives us a more intensive model to follow. Lent is not just giving up one or two "fun" things for a few weeks: it's a call to relinquish those things that are, as Pastor Sam shared on Sunday, natural, normal, and necessary. In other words, we do not allow our bodies to dictate policy to us: we instead exercise self-control by putting our own bodies under subjection (see First Corinthians 9:27).

This act of giving up natural, normal, and necessary human desires does not occur in a vaccuum. It's accompanied by behaviors we commonly call spiritual disciplines: prayer, fasting, and giving.

These disciplines are spoken of by Jesus. In Matthew 6, we see the disciplines accompanied by a key word: when. Not "if", but "when". It seems Jesus has an expectation that the community who follows Christ will, as part and parcel of their membership in that community, engage in spiritual disciplines. And the engagement is not for public accolades, but is instead a private demonstration of love and obedience to God.

When you give.
When you pray.
When you fast.

When you do these things in accordance with God's protocol of how they are to be done, then "your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you openly" (see Matthew 6:4, 6:6, 6:18).

And, when you do these things in obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit, you can be sure that Satan is lurking in the shadows, waiting for an oportunity to tempt you when you are at your weakest physically, mentally, and financially.

During Lent, we undertake this discipline of divesting: intentionally becoming weak and vulnerable, so that we might lean even more on the mercy and grace of God. Pastor Sam used the word "trust" on Sunday, and we would do well to continue reflecting on that simple and profound mandate: Trust God.

When we have expended ourselves, when we have nothing with which to defend ourselves, we cry out to God. And, even if there is no immediate answer, we trust Him. If our situation gets worse instead of better, we trust Him. It's the "mettle detector": our character is revealed by our response to God when He seems to have left us unprotected from the darts of the enemy.

Job, I hear you: "Yes, though He slay me, I will trust Him; I will maintain my way before Him; He shall be my salvation" (see Job 13:15-16).

Oh, my friends, what will your response be when it's your turn to experience the dark night of the soul?