Welcome to Ash Wednesday, 2016

Ash Wednesday Marks a Beginning

There’s so much I want to say about #MeetMeintheMiddleProj and Ash Wednesday and Lent. Sometimes, when there’s too much to say, there’s no way to say it. You have to SEE it instead. But in pictures, we’re limited too. A photograph captures a single moment in time.

Life is a journey, not a postcard.

But something amazing occurs as we look at pictures—our imagination is ignited.  Sometimes we remember being there when an event happened. Sometimes we see the story that’s behind the image. With a Before & After collage, we can mark change that has occurred between the pictures. It’s as if we can imagine what happened in the middle.

Stuff happens in the middle. Still, we want to plow through the middle and get to the end. We crave resolution and peace. We want closure. We want the happy ending. But living and growing happen in the process, not in the ending. In fact, every ending is just a new beginning and more change is always bound to come.

For many of us, time spent in middle places can grieve us. Our comfort must be that God is right there with us, in the middle.  He rolls up His sleeves. He’s always at work. He’s not distracted. He doesn’t nap, or take a vacation, or call in sick. He is steady.

It’s easy to miss seeing God at work. When we struggle, we often feel lost, forgotten, and overlooked. We might wonder, Where He is in all this mess? He’s there, at work in the middle:

• Between Christmas and the Cross, Jesus worked miracles, and signs, and wonders. He worked to fulfill God’s promises. He worked in the hearts of His followers.
• Between the Cross and the Resurrection of Easter, Jesus worked powerfully to defeat Sin and Death. His work broke the Curse. He raised Himself from the dead. His work continues in us.
• Between your wounds and your new life, Jesus is the healer. Between newborn babies and young adults leaving the nest, Jesus works in their hearts through you, and in spite of you. Between your sin and your reconciliation, Jesus purifies your heart.

Jesus rocks the middle, y’all. So, why shouldn’t we?  We were created to be like Him. We have the same Father. We’re being nurtured and pruned by the Holy Spirit to be more and more like Him everyday.

We need to start recognizing and celebrating what happens in the middle. We need to see how the work that we do in the middle, imitates Him. To model ourselves after God is to glorify Him.

Before & After – Making Peace

The Before & After collages below (for Pinterest and Instagram) come from my dear friend, Cati. They remind me that Jesus came to make peace.  As we put our homes in order, we participate in making peace from disorder. We sort, discard and prioritize. We clean and wash, renewing and refreshing bed linens, dishes, clothes and floors. In the same way, over time, Jesus rearranges our priorities, discards wrong thinking and behaviors.  He makes us clean. Jesus is faithful to bring order where there was chaos.

If you get discouraged when you see a mess, remember that bringing order and peace honors the Lord. Just as you can do this in a bedroom, so you can do this in a relationship or within your own heart, by imitating Jesus.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Matthew  5:9, ESV

FOR PINTEREST

FOR INSTAGRAM

 

Meet Me in the Middle Project is a creative way to share the truth of the gospel (during Lent) on blogs, Pinterest, and Instagram, through Before&After collages. Post a collage, tell the story, explain how it demonstrates the gospel. Simple!

If you have a blog, you can grab our button in the sidebar and join right in! Otherwise, Please use #MeetMeintheMiddleProj on social media.