It’s Not about Striving Harder. It’s about coming back.

“Come, let us return to the Lord… He will heal us.” — Hosea 6:1

(This is a blog post I wrote to be cross published with Little With Great Love. You should check out all that's offered over there too!)

Lent is not about striving harder. It’s about coming back. There are two versions of you. The first is the person God had in mind when he spoke you into existence with a word that had never been spoken before. Yours is an intentional and specific creation as a specific part of God’s plan for all of creation. The time, place, and makeup of you are exactly how God intended.

The second, however, is the lived version of you marred by sin and the choices that you have made throughout your life. God desires to draw you back to Himself and restore you to the original “version” that He created at the beginning. He longs for your healing and restoration so that you can be completely contained within His Sacred Heart.

For some, the process of healing and restoration is well underway. For others, it’s a new concept. Just like those in the Gospels who come to Jesus to be healed, he also asks us, what do you want of me? Do you want to be well? How do we answer? There was a season where I didn’t even know where to start. My prayer had to start with, Jesus, I want to be well.

Please show me the darkened places in my heart. Those that have been closed off for so long, I don’t even recognize them anymore. 

As we prepare for Lent, we invite you to reflect on the areas of your heart that may have grown cold, distant, or divided in your relationship with God. As you reflect, rather than making a list of things you want to “work on,” spend some time in prayer asking God, who are you calling me to be? Where should I put my focus?

Have we ever asked God, what wounds do you want me to allow You to heal in my heart this Lent?

“Create in me a clean heard, O God…Restore to me the joy of your salvation.”– Psalm 51:11-14

Lord, I trust you. I surrender to Your will and Your plan. What wounds do You want me to allow You to heal in my heart this Lent?

Don’t be afraid to wait and listen. Read some Sacred Scripture (the Gospel of Luke is a great place to start) and meditate on Jesus healing people.

• The woman at the well in John 4.

• Luke 13:10, Jesus healed the woman bent over.

• The woman with the hemorrhage in Luke 8:43.

• The man born blind in John 9.

As you read these passages, allow for some time of silence to see what the Lord has to say to you.

God Is a Relationship of Persons

We know that God is a relationship of persons. As we are created in His image and likeness, we are also created for relationship. Our whole identity is entwined with the Lord and lived out in relationship with Him and with each other.

“Yet even now,” says the Lord, “return to me with all your heart,” – Joel 2:12

This Lent, The Restoration Collective invites you to community. Join four speakers as we share about healing and restoration, and how connection with others can foster reconnection and intimacy with God. Through two live online events, we’ll discuss repentance, reconnection, trustful surrender, and metanoia – a turning back to God.

Join us for 2 roundtable discussions, inviting YOU into a deeper Lenten conversion—returning to the Lord through repentance and trust in His mercy to heal, renew, and restore us in His love—by remaining rooted in the Scriptures and sharing from our personal testimonies.

Join us here to be part of this Live event!