An Invitation Into the Desert

This coming Wednesday begins Lent. The time when we’re told that we are called to pray, fast, and give alms, all in preparation for Easter. I don’t know about you, but growing up, I never fully understood the deeper beauty of truly living into Lent. And as an adult, I am still discovering the deeper meaning and reason behind it. In the past, I would just randomly pick something extra to do or not do, not giving it too much thought. Nowadays, there are so many options and ideas of what you can specifically decide to do during Lent, and while they are all good things, sometimes I feel like the large array of options, if we’re not careful, can cause us to view Lent as just another thing to do on our already long to-do list. Making Lent more of a chore in our minds, rather than a true time of purification and encounter with the Lord. 

With all that in mind, I prayed and asked the Lord to give me a Bible verse to help me reflect on Lent and see more clearly what He desires for me, for us all, in this time of Lent. He led me to Mark 14:12: “Where will you have us go and prepare for You?” It’s a part in the bible where the disciples are asking Jesus where He wants them to go for Him to prepare to eat the Passover. 

But as I reflected on this Bible verse, it stood out to me that the disciples asked Jesus what He desired for them to do, where to go to prepare for Him. So I felt inspired in prayer to sit with that, asking the Lord, “Where do you want me to go, what do you want me to do, to prepare for Lent?”  As I sat with this, the Lord led me to an image of me in a desert with Him. Behind me was a large city, which I felt represented the world and distractions. Entering the desert with the Lord, I could feel the weight of all I was holding onto fall away. Even though you would think entering a desert, I would be preoccupied with how I’d survive there. I just had this peace entering in knowing that as I journeyed there, the Lord would provide. 

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”- Isaiah 43:19 

The Lord can do all things, and in this desert of Lent, He will provide what He knows I need, all that we need. He knows how we need to be purified. He knows what our souls need. Entering the desert, I just felt this peace. This knowledge that I get to spend this time with Jesus, my Lord and Savior. I don’t have to go through the desert by myself. He is walking with me through it all. As I was walking through the desert, I saw beautiful jewels come up out of the ground as I walked by. Reflecting on that, I felt like the Lord was saying to me, “This Lent, I have so many graces for those who journey with Me.” This Lent, as we walk with the Lord, allowing Him to purify and strip us of all that is not of Him, He will then be able to pour out many good gifts upon us, many beautiful graces to help us grow even closer to Him. How good is our Lord!

The final image I received in this prayer time was of a beautiful river at the end of the desert. And the Lord invited me there after my long journey in the desert. Reflecting on that, I feel like at the end of Lent the Lord will invite us all to walk into that river, to wash away all the leftover grime on our souls that is not of the Lord, to emerge from the river of His graces refreshed and renewed, ready to celebrate fully with Him in the Resurrection of Easter. 

Today, I invite you to take time to enter into prayer with the Lord. Ask Him, “Where do you want me to go, what do you want me to do, to prepare for Lent?”  And allow the Lord to lead you in what He knows you need in this beautiful season of Lent. See in what ways He desires you to grow, to be cleansed, to be purified. This Lent, He’s inviting us all to enter the desert with Him. He has good things for us all. No one is left behind. We are all invited to enter in and grow closer to Jesus, be not afraid to enter the desert with Him this Lent.