The Desert of Lent

Mar 04, 2010

     I love it when someone wins, especially when the person has great obstacles to overcome.  The Winter Olympics are full of examples, but none are quite as moving as that of Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette.  She held a world-wide audience spellbound for two minutes and 50 seconds of astonishing grace in the face of great grief, just two days after the death of her mother.  The question on everyone’s heart was not if she would finish with the highest score — but if she would finish at all.

      The 24-year-old skater from Quebec became the darling of the Winter Olympics that night—not because she skated into first place—but because her third place finish was a victory.  It was a victory over grief!  Life went on for her even in the face of death.  She had mustered the physical, emotional, and spiritual strength to skate on the world stage, and in the midst of her sorrow, she had filled us all with hope.

      Joannie’s story moves us because it is all too familiar.  Like this Olympian, we have  found ourselves in the wilderness, and we know that being lost in the desert on a horse with no name is a part of the human experience.   During this season of Lent, even if we do not choose to walk out onto the hot refining sands, we cannot escape the desert.   Soon enough, we will find ourselves longing for the Living Water as we are baked in the oven of life. 

      But unlike Joannie, we may not be as victorious in our wilderness experience.  Like Moses who wandered in the desert for 40 years looking for the Promised Land, we may lose our patience.  Like David who faithfully faced many giants, we may let our guard down and be defeated.  Like Peter, we may rely on our own great strength, only to find that our strength is not enough when the sun burns hottest.

      But, we have hope!  Jesus Christ has already forged the way.  He has entered into the wilderness of life and death and broken open the springs of eternity.  His victory comes even as He seems to be losing.   The victory dance begins as He loses his life so that we might truly live.  Jesus comes to us in the most desolate, skeleton-ridden part of the desert to weep with us, to hope with us, to die with us, and to offer us Living Water.  And the victory dance ends there— at the oasis of Easter morning— as Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.    

      In the desert of Lent and Life, have hope.   He knows you are thirsty, and . . . Easter is coming!            

In His Joy,  Pastor Steve McElroy

 

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