Pause the Pleasure, Please

The human heart, by nature, gravitates towards pleasure.

In the body- in eating food, buying clothing, or slothful rest- we have a tendency to over consume. In the soul desires incline us to diets full of worldly praise and attention, excessive distractions away from God and prayer, and using gifts and talents to choose unhealthy portions of evil instead of good. Often unaware, we grow fat on this consumption of pleasures and do not notice how we have been changed.

Lent gives us a chance to pause the endless intake of pointless pleasures.

Lent puts us on the scale.

It measures our weighty self-love.

We gasp at excess revealed. And we remember the ways that we got here. Discouraged and defeated the One who sees in secret whispers His desire to carry the weight of these sins. Seeing our need for will power to change, He comes to restore our true beauty.

The pleasure pause then has us turn to a look upon the mirror.

We see an aging image that is on its way to dust. And God sweeps this dust away like a dream ( Psalm 90).

Grant that we may see as the Father sees!

In secret, we notice His concern. In secret, we sense His pity. In secret, our rended hearts please Him. He wants to give us new eyes.

Truth whispers that mirror image is meant for His glory.

Dare we seek the pleasure pause that creates such opportunities for Presence?

Eternity breaks through filled with the promise of salvation…Punctuation in pleasure seeking gives us a look from the Father’s eyes- And the Father who sees in secret and will repay us.

Where have you taken pause from pleasure and seen the face of God?