Into the Desert! (Week 1, Introduction)

Why would anyone in their right mind venture out into the desert?

It’s true that deserts are starkly beautiful. But they are also forbidding. The sun swelters in the sky, the grit of sand scratches everything, wild animals prowl around and there’s nowhere to hide.


But Jesus made a habit of spending time in the desert...     
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Before the launch of his ministry, Jesus spent forty difficult days in the desert, wrestling with the Devil (Matthew 4:1-11). When life became too busy and distracting, he made a habit of retreating to “lonely places” (literally, the desert or wilderness). He invited his disciples to follow his lead, and to occasionally leave everything and head for the wilderness (Mark 6:31).

Those first followers of Jesus knew that the desert was a hard place—but also that it was precisely where their forefathers met God. God’s calling and plan was that the people of Israel would break free of slavery in Egypt and worship him—where? “In the desert” (Exodus 7:16).  And when Israel proved to be resistant to God (much like us), God shaped and formed them spiritually by keeping them in the desert for forty years.

Since the early years, Christians have enjoyed the Easter celebration of Christ’s rising from the dead. But they’ve recognized that before resurrection comes the cross (Matthew 16:24-25).  Many believers have found it deeply meaningful to approach the celebration of Jesus’ passion, death, burial and resurrection by intentionally leaning into the season of Lent.

Lent is a wilderness journey. It’s a time to shake loose of day-to-day comforts and distractions, and to step into the bright, uncompromising light of the desert sun. It’s a time to follow the example of Jesus. It’s a time to experience what Israel experienced over and over again: the undeniable presence of God in the desert.


It’s a big risk to lay down the things that make us comfortable and cushion the hard realities of life.  But the payoff is as breathtaking as it is unlikely: rivers gushing forth in the desert, the arid wilderness bursting into bloom.

Over the next few weeks of Lent, you might want to focus on certain spiritual practices that Christians throughout the ages have found useful as they celebrate the difficult but joyous journey of Lent. By taking up these desert disciplines—prayer, almsgiving, and fasting—we position ourselves to recognize the most wonderful surprise of Lent. We discover that Jesus is traveling right beside us.