Today marks the beginning of the Lenten Season. Beginning with Ash Wednesday, those who practice the tradition get ashes marked in the shape of the cross on their foreheads. I was not raised with this tradition, but it has fast become my favorite holiday! In order, my favorite celebrations are Lent/Easter, my kids birthdays and if I had to choose one more I’d say Christmas.
In another life I think I could have been a monk. There is something attractive about solitude and relying on the barest of necessities. Outside of this pandemic, I lead an active social life. I love it, but it can also be draining. It's so easy to be on the go all the time and forget to not only appreciate the moments but remember whose you are.
Lent season for me is a forced pause. I become intentional about being still before my Maker and rediscovering a relationship that I so easily take for granted. Ironically, although it is a time of fasting and prayer, it is a time when my cup gets filled to overflowing. I find my courage to say no to the expendable and yes to the necessary. It is a time when I am training my ear to the voice of the Father and the leading of His Spirit for the purposes He has for me.
It is no coincidence that Jesus begins his ministry by fasting 40 days in the wilderness. When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt to begin a nation that would represent Him to the world it took them 40 years to be still before their God and trust His provision to walk into the promise. Jesus starts His ministry by walking through the wilderness for 40 days displaying His full reliance on the word of His Father and the leading of His Spirit to begin the ministry given to Him.
Jesus deprived himself of all else, including food for forty days in a DESERT. He was likely sunburned, hungry and delusional as he pushed his physical body to its limits, and the devil came to take advantage, but he was prepared. Although he was starved of food, a pillow and a bath he was filled with the bread of life and a lifelong developed dependency on the leading of the Holy Spirit so much so that even in such a weakened state he was able to resist temptation and overcome.
In Lent season, I aim to accomplish an increase in my spiritual diet of ingesting the bread of life and leaning towards a greater dependence on the leading of God’s Spirit. I open the channels of communication through prayer and meditation while simultaneously denying myself of other indulgences and influences. Just as Jesus leads, I so choose to follow in the footsteps of our Savior as He beacons us to follow Him as He leads us in the lives we were destined for. So I pray this Lent season you will follow Jesus into your own wilderness experience where in exchange for the comforts of this world you will find greater clarity and purpose as you trust the Holy Spirit to lead you into greater heights.