On Being in the Wilderness

The Lenten journey takes us into the wilderness. This means different things for different people. For some it is a place they are already at and for others it is a foreign place. For all of us, we will find the same two forces at work in the wilderness: Jesus and Satan.

The writings of Matthew (4:1-11), Mark (1:12-13) and Luke (4:1-13) each tell the story of Jesus being baptized and then headed into the wilderness for 40 days (albeit each in their own way). The church season of Lent has called generation after generation back to this story, to live it out in our own ways in the weeks leading up to the holiest time on the Christian calendar.

Waiting for each of us in this ancient wilderness exercise that challenges our hearts and minds, as well as sometimes our entire spiritual and physical self is the ancient foe, Satan. He waits for us to tempt us and to tell us that God is not with us and does not care for us. While the Devil is strong, though, he is wrong.

What is comforting to know, for us living after Christ’s initial coming into the world, is that God is with us in the wilderness too. Angels comforted Jesus in the wilderness—and you and I have an even greater comfort than he: the Holy Spirit of God. Indeed when we go into the wilderness, we discover that we are not confronted by just the Devil, but also by a power far bigger and greater. This Loving Spirit gives us the courage to handle whatever evils come at us and whatever temptations snare us. We know that even if we falter or fail from time to time, the love of God for us is far greater and we can bring about a better world, because we have been filled with the strong gusts of the Holy Spirit that blow into us in the wild.

Let those who seek the wilderness of Lent be comforted, knowing that the Lord walks with us and the Spirit breathes new life into us in this place. We are not alone, we are with God.