What do you think?
Rate this book
Ever Approaching Dawn: A Lenten Devotional for the Season of Easter
"Ever Approaching Dawn" is a Lenten companion for those carrying unanswered prayers and wondering where God is in the silence. Rather than offering quick comfort, these reflections trace a different kind of hope: one that meets us in our exhaustion and doubt, reminding us that dawn is approaching, even through the longest night.
Published January 1, 2026
About the author
Ronnie Martin
18 books26 followersRonnie Martin is an internationally known Dove Award–nominated recording artist with more than 20 album credits spanning three decades. He is lead pastor of Substance Church in Ashland, Ohio. He lives in Ashland with his wife and daughter.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 8, 2026
This is the final book that I finished from my Lenten reading list for this year (there were others that I did not get to, which I may read in the weeks to come). And just like its "sister" volume from Advent, Darkness Then Light, this book was excellent! It was a bit different, in that, rather than having a reading for all of the days of Lent, there were only readings for Ash Wednesday, then each Sunday up until Palm Sunday, after which we had readings for Tuesday through Easter Sunday. Oh, and I almost forgot, because I wasn't expecting it . . . there are readings for Easter Monday and Easter Tuesday.
Each reading is written by a different person, just like the Advent book. And, as in any resource, not every reading hit me strongly, but a lot of them did. There is also some very nice artwork/illustration in this book. I really enjoyed that. One of the key themes of this book was embracing the sorrow along with the joy during the Lenten season, and not trying to separate the two. With titles like "Feasts Amid Fasting," and "The Sweet Seriousness of Lent," we are reminded that we don't have to choose between "being glad and being earnest." We can smile through tears, weep with joy, and press down to be lifted up. We are reminded that "death did not hold Jesus because it could not hold Jesus."
On the fifth Sunday of Lent, we are reminded that sometimes, in the midst of our sorrow, just as the women who attended Jesus's grave did, we simply must "do the next thing." Perhaps the definitive statement of the whole book comes on page 31 . . . "The darkness does not have the final word."
On Palm Sunday, we got a very interesting comparison between Holy Week and the week of Creation. I was pretty astonished at the correlations drawn there.
And in what is, in my opinion, the best reading in the book, on Easter Tuesday, we are reminded that we are, as St. Peter called us in his first epistle, "elect exiles," who are "promised to receive an external inheritance from an eternal kingdom but currently lives in a broken place that is not home." We all walk in "the tension of the now and the not yet." Therefore, we both rejoice and weep throughout the season. There's that theme again,.
I highly recommend this book for a Lent/Easter devotion. While it may be usable in future years, I have to wonder if Christianity Today is going to publish new volumes for this coming Advent and next Lent/Easter. Based on how good these two were, I certainly hope that they do!
Each reading is written by a different person, just like the Advent book. And, as in any resource, not every reading hit me strongly, but a lot of them did. There is also some very nice artwork/illustration in this book. I really enjoyed that. One of the key themes of this book was embracing the sorrow along with the joy during the Lenten season, and not trying to separate the two. With titles like "Feasts Amid Fasting," and "The Sweet Seriousness of Lent," we are reminded that we don't have to choose between "being glad and being earnest." We can smile through tears, weep with joy, and press down to be lifted up. We are reminded that "death did not hold Jesus because it could not hold Jesus."
On the fifth Sunday of Lent, we are reminded that sometimes, in the midst of our sorrow, just as the women who attended Jesus's grave did, we simply must "do the next thing." Perhaps the definitive statement of the whole book comes on page 31 . . . "The darkness does not have the final word."
On Palm Sunday, we got a very interesting comparison between Holy Week and the week of Creation. I was pretty astonished at the correlations drawn there.
And in what is, in my opinion, the best reading in the book, on Easter Tuesday, we are reminded that we are, as St. Peter called us in his first epistle, "elect exiles," who are "promised to receive an external inheritance from an eternal kingdom but currently lives in a broken place that is not home." We all walk in "the tension of the now and the not yet." Therefore, we both rejoice and weep throughout the season. There's that theme again,.
I highly recommend this book for a Lent/Easter devotion. While it may be usable in future years, I have to wonder if Christianity Today is going to publish new volumes for this coming Advent and next Lent/Easter. Based on how good these two were, I certainly hope that they do!
April 16, 2026
The first time I’ve truly participated in Lent this little book was a lovely addition to read throughout.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews