Sometimes, we can feel like we’re doing something wrong when we encounter wilderness spaces in our own lives. Life with God is supposed to be thirst-quenching (right??), and that’s not always what we feel as we make our way through the wilderness (Lenten or otherwise). It feels exhausting. We find ourselves hungry, hot, and tired—and wonder why. Did we miss a turn somewhere? Could this misery be of our own making? How can we get back to that sweet space of the waters of baptism, where our identity as the Beloved was proclaimed from the skies?! But when we see Jesus in the wilderness, we see how very intentional—and necessary!—that time was. He faced squarely all that was in him, body and soul. He met internal and external questions, secure in who he was, refusing to give in to temptations toward power and prestige, approval and safety. So, too, for us. We engage every year with this season of wilderness, and sometimes our soul reflects back to us more than others: “This is exactly where I am living.” It can be reassuring to see that the wilderness can be intentional and good and beautiful and full of truth and life, in its own way. So, as we journey further into Lent, further into the wilderness, step by step, what are you finding yourself “facing”? Internally? Externally? How might you lean in without worrying that you’re lost, alone, fending for yourself (even if it very much feels that way, at times)?

Posted by Jamie Bonilla at 2022-03-08 14:30:20 UTC