I like to encourage you and challenge you this Holy Week to identify the most dominant question in your life right now. What question about you and your future is preoccupying your heart? It might be, Should I marry him? It may be, Should I retire? It might be, What should I study in college? It may be, How do I improve my marriage? How do I deal with the health challenge I'm facing? How do I recover from the trauma with the death of my spouse? How do I cope with the betrayal of a close friend? How do I become a better parent? How do I get my personal finances under control? Or how do I center my life spiritually? It could be a million different things. But it is only one question for you right now. What is the dominant question in your heart at this time in your life? You may know immediately what that question is. You may need to think about it. Either way, take some time today to identify that question, write it down, and place this question before God each day this week. Just keep placing this question before God.
Each time you go to church this week, in your heart and mind, place this question on the altar and listen deep in your heart for the answer God brings you. If you have trouble identifying the question, consider this. If you could have lunch with God and ask him one question about what comes next in your life, what would that question be? What would you ask him? This is just one of the many ways this Holy Week experience can be deeply personal and anything but routine.
I've had a theory that I would like your help testing this week. The theory is this: Everything that happens in your life, the big things and the small things, can be found in these eight days of Jesus' experience. And that these eight days that make up Holy Week have something to say about every human experience. Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem today has something to say about the successes and victories of your life. Whatever you're angry about, when Jesus cleanses the temple tomorrow, there is a lesson there. On Tuesday, when the woman anoints Jesus with the perfumed oil, we find every expression of gratitude and appreciation we have ever given or received.
On Wednesday, as Judas plots his betrayal, we find all our broken friendships and our own encounters with betrayal. The epic loneliness of Jesus in the garden Thursday speaks to our own loneliness, past or present. On Friday, we enter deep into the mystery of the suffering of our lives and in the world. On Saturday, when the world goes dark with Jesus dead in the tomb, we come face-to-face with emptiness. And on Sunday, the resurrection brings with it hope, new life, and celebration.
This week, take some time to sit down in a quiet place and just talk to Jesus as you would talk with a friend over coffee. The saints and mystics of every age have practiced this particular form of prayer. This conversational prayer is called mental prayer, but the name can be misleading because it is a deeply personal, intimate form of prayer in which we talk to God in our own words about whatever is on our hearts.
If you want to improve your relationship with God, if you want to take your spiritual life to the next level, talk to Him. Talk to Him. Sit down and spend some time talking to God. Trust, surrender, believe, and receive.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we make the time to sit quietly with our tea and coffee in hand and just listen, just listen, and know that He has us in the palm of His hand to bring us calm and peace to our lives.
