Lent starts February 14, and so does the RESCUED Blessed is She Lent devotional. This year, you’ll be receiving an excerpt from the Lent devotional every day in your inbox (in lieu of our regular daily devo). We want to pray with one heart and one mind as the BIS sisterhood. If you prefer to have the book, purchase the 2024 Blessed is She Lent devotional RESCUED right here. Right upon purchase, you’ll receive a link to come into the free Blessed is She app to walk through the Lenten season with us in daily live prayer, small groups, and more. Together let’s look to the Lamb of God who came to rescue each one of us.
They ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over—seven baskets. // Mark 8:8
“N-u-m-e-r-a-t-o-r,” I spell aloud to my one son. His giggles alert me to the fact that I’ve messed something up. While attempting to proctor one child’s spelling test alongside helping another with math lessons, I’ve mashed the two lessons into one. Meanwhile, the toddler is gleefully spreading flour around the room because I abandoned the dough I’d begun when the mathematics query tugged my attention away.
I’ve created a kerfuffle of it all because of an incessant urge I have to be efficient, to cram in multiple things and make the most of my time. I leap for what I believe to be a shortcut only to have it leave me frustrated and no farther along in my day.
In today’s Old Testament reading (see 1 Kings 12:26-32; 13:33-34), Jeroboam realizes he could lose the hearts of the people if they travel to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice, so he creates a simpler path, one that seems easy on the surface but circumnavigates what God has asked of His people. And it works—the people choose the easy path of sin over obedience, with the final result being destruction. More times than not, efficiency stamps out love.
Compare those people of the Old Testament reading with the crowd following Jesus in the Gospel reading (see Mark 8: 1-10). On the verge of collapsing, the crowd remains close to Jesus. He has compassion on them and their lack of sustenance and energy, and even though they did not plan ahead, He takes the little they do have and turns it into abundance.
Jesus shows us that God’s grace is present to carry us through wherever we lack. It covers all we cannot accomplish alone. He wants us to bring what we have, offer it back to Him, and He promises to give us what we need for today. God is generous beyond our capacity to understand. My best efforts will eventually end in a muddle, but when I put it in His hands and depend upon God’s grace, my basket will be full for what He calls me to.
Sarah Ortiz is a Catholic convert, wife, and mother to five boys while living in a 200-year-old farmhouse in Western New York. When not folding laundry, she can be found reading, experimenting in the kitchen, keeping the family library, or snagging amazing antique furniture deals. She was a contributing author to Set a Fire. Find out more about her here.
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