Lent is so much more than just giving up chocolate! At his baptism, Jesus is filled with the Spirit, and the Father speaks over him "this is my Son, with whom I am well pleased". We might expect that he would launch from this high point straight into ministry. But instead the Spirit leads him into the wilderness. This isn't Jesus just wandering into the desert, or the devil tempting him to go there. God himself leads Jesus into the wilderness for a time of testing and trial.
We too are led into wilderness periods. For some it is a choice to strip back food, luxuries or comforts so we can trust more on God. For others we may go through periods of spiritual dryness, when our passion seems low and our prayers seem to go unanswered. Or for yet more of us we go through times of hardship - perhaps the financial crisis is causing you problems, or it could be family issues, or health trouble. Whatever wilderness we are going through, we can be sure that Jesus understands what it is like.
As we go through these times they are never easy or comfortable. But it is in the wilderness we learn to trust God when all other crutches are gone. We learn what it means to worship not motivated by emotions but by a choice to put God first. We learn to pray and call out to God, for ourselves, and then also for others. We learn how to resist the devil's temptation - fighting them as Jesus did with the Bible. The wilderness wanderings of the Israelites were times of testing which they often failed. Jesus succeeded where they fell down, and he empowers us to do the same. Yet even the Israelites experienced God's faithfulness as he finally led them to the promised land.
It can be difficult to find worship songs that deal with these kind of themes, and especially ones that are written specifically for the season of Lent. If you'd like to find material appropriate to Lent, have a look here for a great song, free to download, by Sam Hargreaves, a Worship Pastor and song-writer based near Cambridge, UK. 'You lead us through the wilderness' on www.RESOUNDworship.org expresses confident faith and trust in God's guidance, even in the difficult times. Check out Sam's creative worship site at www.engageworship.org for more excellent multi-sensory worship ideas for Lent and beyond.
As we enter Lent, I hope that you delve into the richness of this period, and however hard things get you will trust God and find him faithful. As 2 Cor 16-18 is translated in the MESSAGE:
"we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever."
God bless,
Matt Osgood
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