At our first zoom Lenten Lunch today, we got talking about how we are all struggling right now. We were reflecting on a passage in Ezekiel where God promises to give his people a new heart – to remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. And one member said she needs a new heart every day now, that she’s really struggling. And across the screen, all the heads started to nod up and down.

We’re all feeling it. We’re all struggling. We all need God to intervene.

So I like this…but I also think it doesn’t quite go far enough:

It’s true, we can make choices to love life and live in gratitude. But there will still be days, times, seasons, when our hearts are weary or hardened and we just don’t have the strength on our own.

The very good news, is that God does not grow weary. God is always ready to give us a heart of flesh if we would turn to him and ask for it.

Making the choice to pray plays a huge role in all of this – choosing to ask God for what we need, but also to listen for what He’s saying to us.

The amazing thing that happened at Lenten Lunch, as we discussed the scripture, our own experiences, current events, and then did some singing together – is that our hearts were renewed. We’d come into the Zoom tired and broken, and left uplifted and with a sense of healing. God is so good!

I know it’s hard, I know you’re tired, I know we all wish that this could be over. It’s ok if your heart is a little battered right now. But God promises to make your heart new.

Until tomorrow, dear friends, ask God to give you a new heart (and then ask him again tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that….you get it!).