Hebrews 4:15 - For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet he did not sin.

By this time of Lent, we are really wanting our way back to whatever we gave up. We want our sweets back, our peanut-butter & chocolate snacks. We want our soda back or our mornings if we dedicated ourselves to early rising for the Lenten season. We are ready.

Well, first of all: we still have 9 days to go. The 40 days is 47 this year. You’re welcome for that reminder.
Second of all, we’re always ready to get out of our own wilderness, aren’t we? Sometimes that wilderness is self-made, sometimes it’s because of choices made by those close to us. Sometimes life just is what it is and it’s a wilderness.

On Day 30 I wrote about finding your way when you’ve lost your way. Remember the story of how I was lost in the woods and was so grateful that Greg was on his way to come find me? I reminded you that Jesus is the way and he always makes a way.

When we’re in the proverbial wilderness, we inevitably reach a point where we’re hungry. We’re hungry for replenishment, for answers, for truth, for clarity.

Right before the pandemic, Mark Batterson had a sermon called The Way of the Wilderness (watch & listen here or on any podcast app; search for National Community Church). I listened to it back then and really enjoyed it. If I’m being honest I don’t remember it all, but I remembered the title & topic, and I remembered being encouraged by it. I looked through the transcript and found this gem: Hunger is a legitimate need but how that need is met is critically important.

When we’re searching for our way out of the wilderness, not only is Jesus the way but he knows you’re lost. He knows you’re hungry. He knows you want the replenishment, the answers, truth, and clarity. He knows that. Not only can he provide that when we go to him, but we’ve been given the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us to specific, tangible, earthly things that can provide relief from our hunger.

Sometimes relief lands in a text message from a friend, sometimes in our child’s laughter. Sometimes it lands in a hot meal on a cold day, sometimes in our spouse’s smile. Sometimes it lands in an Amazon package on a really hard Sunday, and sometimes it lands in a kind gesture of a friend who brings us what we need before we even know we need it.

When we’re in the wilderness, the last thing we need is to fill ourselves with junk; with unhealthy things and people that only further the confusion and frustration. It’s okay to be hungry. It’s okay to need. (Remember that and give yourself grace for it). It’s also really important to let that hunger be tended to by something healthy and good. Something that is kind to your soul (even if it feels prickly in the moment). Something that breathes life into your tired soul.

Today, may you let yourself need. As you pray about filling that need, may the fulfillment come from something specifically placed in your path by the Holy Spirit. How will you know if that’s the case. After you’re filled up, there will be a peace that transcends understanding, a contentment that can come only from the knowledge that even when we feel like we’re in the wilderness, God has written the entire story - the way in and through and out - from beginning to end; he’s rooting for us, he’s holding us, and he’s loving us - every step of the way.

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