Alignment

Lent Day 31: Today I battle to set aside my agenda for God’s

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.” Isaiah 61: 1

Jesus, this is a hard one, because I remember my great heart break when my boyfriend at the time (my husband now) broke up with me. It was awful and so heavy, but at the same time I remember thinking about the gift of emotions and being grateful that I had loved him so much. It was a new experience of being alive.

With that in mind, this feels a bit like opening the floodwaters, but I see my limitations in my ability to love others. Jesus I ask you to expand my heart to love. I ask you to break my heart for what breaks yours.

There, I said it. What better way is there to live this one life on earth? Break my heart for what breaks yours. May my heart and mind be aligned with your plans, Lord, like a soldier going out to battle.

Jesus, you have eyes to see what we can’t. Shine a light on where you invite me to bring you.

In scripture, I see you healing the blind, deaf, lame, and the lepers outcasted from society. I see you weeping at Lazarus’s tomb and comforting those grieving. I see you freeing people from a life of darkness. I see you bring people a fresh start and hope.

Jesus, I see you doing these things back then, and you are also doing these things now in our time. You are giving power to your people to help the outcasts, the slaves, the lost, and those in darkness – but if we don’t set aside our agendas for yours, will they find the freedom and love you offer?

So me too. I want to live aligned with the Father’s heart. I want your Spirit to move me and animate me according to your will, not by my own agenda or perceptions. May my heart be pure of intention and generous. May the love you pour into me overflow to others. Thank you, I love you. I pray in your name Jesus, Amen.