Make a difference this Lenten Season

Fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras. The day before Ash Wednesday.

As I hear those words I reflect back to my summer spent leading missions trips in the beautiful city of New Orleans. I remember getting to know community members and learning all about how they were affected by Katrina, how their lives are now, and even what they are doing today to make their lives better. I pray I never forget about my amazing experience working for the nonprofit YouthWorks in this wonderful city. During my time there I learned about a variety of wonderful people accomplishing incredible things for the Kingdom of God and for their own city.

There are many things that I have learned and am reminded of daily from my time there, but one thing I know I acquired was the value of your own city. Of working within your city daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly to partner with God in His Kingdom work. So many of us--myself included--think that we have to get away to really do something good. We think that we must become strangers in a strange land in order to really make a difference, but folks that is bad news. That is not who we, as disciples of Christ, are called to be. I had to travel to two new states--Missouri and Louisiana--just to learn the importance of where I was already placed. Traveling, as fun as it is, taught me the importance of investing in the local community in which we have been placed today. It is not about where we go tomorrow or next year, but it is about the difference we can make today.

I find it fitting to reflect on this the day before Lent begins. The day that so many people contemplate whether or not they should give something up or change something for the next 40 days. I would be lying if I said this was not in my own thought process. However, I wonder how different our lives would be if Christians did more than just give something up? What if we took what we gave up and invested that time in both growing closer to God and investing in our local community.

What if instead of sneaking in another episode on Netflix during our lunch break we break bread with a lonely member of our church? What if instead of spending our countless hours on social media we invite someone new into our home? What if instead of reminiscing on the past we ask God how we can grow in the future? There are so many what ifs we can ask ourselves today, but we need to pick one and move beyond the questions. We need to take action.

So as you go about today and prepare for tomorrow ask yourself this: How can I better invest in my own community? How can I become the person God desires me to be instead of who I desire myself to be? God has a plan and is inviting us to be a part of it, but if we reject His plan we miss out on the adventure. His plan will happen regardless, but he wants us to join His Kingdom Movement in our own community. When reflecting on your part in God's plan consider the words of Mordecai to his cousin Esther, "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14, NIV). Where has God led you to today and how can you make a difference during this Lenten season?