Have you ever suddenly been faced with a wilderness experience?
I have several times.
One minute I was carefree, carving out new places to explore, thinking of new ways to fulfill my ever-expanding life-plans and the next minute I’m thinking on my feet trying to grasp what just happened.
One day I was visiting my siblings in Colorado.
We were getting ready for dinner when I was told of news on the TV that the company I worked for went bankrupt and completely shut down.
In an instant my life changed.
Before I knew it I was at the airport seeking transportation back to Seattle.
I had $50 cash at that moment and my airline pass was worthless.
I began to explain my plight but was stopped mid-sentence.
The ticket agent handed me a free pass and gave instructions to run for it. “The flight leaves in five minutes.”
In those days there was no security check and the airport was small and easily accessible for passengers.
I made the flight.
Once nestled into my seat, it began to sink in that my life would change forever.
As a Christian of just a few years, I had created some very strong daily habits.
I had memorized many passages of scripture, set aside time each day for prayer and, over time, fasted from many indulgent habits.
In other words, I knew the Holy Spirit was guiding me in every thought and every action. I had the tools to maintain my focus on God and not swirl into self-pity. After all, there were hundreds of others who did not have the foundation in Christ that carried me through the first weeks of unemployment.
I was at peace.
In my job we had learned to ‘assess conditions.’
I assessed the condition of my heart, my mind and my soul.
I assessed the condition of my bank account, my bills and how I was to move forward. I’d spent every pay check for the past year on renovation of the first house I’d ever purchased. A new deck, new doors, new bathroom, new carpet . . . refreshed and ready for me to enjoy.
It was time for me to surrender all preconceived notions, all of self to God.
I knew I would have to let go of much of my indulgent habits.
I was ready to feed on the gifts of simplicity the Lord would present to me.
It was as if Angels surrounded me and held me up on their wings.
I was soaring with hope, joy, peace and plans.
I needed to pay the mortgage, buy food and pay for basic necessities.
I invited my friends, a group of abut 150 singles from church, to lunch at my house the next week.
This practice was common so people brought whatever they had to share. I was surrounded by love and affirmation and was left with enough food to last a week.
I moved out of my large bedroom and created a space for myself in a tiny room just large enough for a bed and dresser.
Two friends who sought cheap housing moved in to two very large spaces they could call their own.
Thus began a “Women’s Discipleship House” over the next several years that would be open to any woman who needed a place to live and learn foundational skills to live a fulfilling Christian life.
My wilderness experience bloomed into a ministry I could pursue while I entered a new line of work in software development.
God was guiding and I was listening as the Holy Spirit swirled through this wilderness experience.
Not that it was easy.
Satan was right there trying to dismantle God’s work.
Yet, through my continued focus on the Lord as I pressed into a new way of living, God prevailed.
It’s the same way with Jesus’ wilderness experience.
His entry into ministry at the Jordan river was receive with affirming words from God and a sense of hope for the world.
People saw the Holy Spirit come down like a dove and cling to Jesus after he was baptized.
The Jews surrounding him expected Jesus to remain with them but just as suddenly as Jesus appeared before John the Baptizer, the Holy Spirit whisked him away into a place of solitude.
Instead of diving into the end of the story, it’s important for us to linger a bit with our Lord in his forty day wilderness experience.
Jesus was surrounded by angels.
The Holy Spirit swirled around him as the Father and Jesus communed together. Most likely this was affirming, enlightening and strengthening to his soul.
Jesus in all his humanness knew this was a time to listen, learn and soak in the unconditional love of the Father.
These forty days were a time of surrendering his body, mind and soul to the Father’s will.
Jesus would continue to surrender to the Father throughout his ministry, especially when he hung on the Cross.
During Jesus’ wilderness experience the Holy Spirit directed Jesus’ path, guided his days of fasting and swirled in and through the constant conversation between Father and Son. Jesus was in community with the Father, the Holy Spirit and the angels who surrounded him.
In all his humanity, Jesus showed us what we are able to do when fortified by prayer and fasting as we surrender our own ‘self’ to God.
That is what Lent is all about.
Holy Surrender.
It’s not that we are to give up but that we are to give over to God all that is within us, our selfish desires, our neediness that sucks the life out of others.
Our Lord is here for us.
Talk to the Lord.
Listen quietly for God’s answers.
Study the life of Christ.
Get to know the Lord, thy God.
Develop an intimate relationship with him.
Pour out your hurts and challenges and troubles to him.
Let go of self, of EGO.
Stop edging God out and open your heart to his endless love.
Think about what it means to pray without ceasing.
Call on the Holy Spirit, planted in us at baptism, to lead you into the loving arms of our Lord.
Study scripture in order to develop a deeper understanding of God’s selfless love.
Give of yourself to God in new ways as you give of your abundance to others.
Live, love and give as if this were your last day on earth.
Jesus said to Satan, “One does not live by bread alone”
“Worship the Lord thy God and serve him only.”
"Do not put the Lord, thy God to the test.”
Don’t let Satan get the best of you.
We are called to surrender body, mind and will to God in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Call on the Holy Spirit to guide you through this wilderness experience of Lent.
Give the Lord all that is within you in Holy Surrender.
You will receive abundant love, grace and peace.
