Now that we're a quarter of the way through Lent, we may do well to assess how we're doing. How is my prayer life going? How is my penance going? Am I still going strong or am I getting tired of it?
I, for one, am getting tired.
It's not that I want to stop doing what I'm doing for Lent. It's just that there are times when I want to take a "break" for just a little while.
But isn't that how giving up always starts? We get a little tired and the devil offers that we just take a break. And then when we decide break time's over, the devil says, not that we don't ever need to return to doing the Lord's work, but rather, "You've got time. Do it tomorrow."
The genius of Jesus' incarnation was that he probably faced times like that as well. He shares in and understands our tiredness.
But Jesus constantly drew His strength from above. The problem is that we rely too much on ourselves to do what He has asked of us. In other words, we fail to "poor in spirit," and to be "meek." Only by focusing on Jesus and inviting his strength into our weakness can we persevere.
So the danger: Relying on ourselves too much leads to tiredness, which leads to taking a break, which becomes giving up. Let's fight the fire at the source. Rely not on our own strength but the strength that comes from the one who created us.
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