Upside-Down Wilderness

One mystery surrounding Jesus were His upside-down teaching points.  The weak will be strong.  The 
first will be last.  The rich will be poor.  The greatest will be the least.  This perplexed the people of Jesus' day and still perplexes many of us.  This upside-down life teaching is counter-cultural to all else we see, hear, and experience in our daily lives.  Right?

And now we're in a spiritual season that takes us to wilderness or to desert times.  Most of my life, I've thought of the desert as a place of pain, of want, of isolation.  It reminds me of the annual, dreaded doctor visit and the thought, "I really don't want to do this but know I should"!  BUT, what if this wilderness is another example of Jesus' upside-down teaching?  What if the wilderness is where the blessing finds us?

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” Matthew 4:1-3

What strikes me is, "And after He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came..."  This 40 days of wilderness and hunger and deprivation were not for suffering's sake but for strengthening.  These 40 days were the strength and conditioning days.  The 40 days are the days to grow us up, help us work new muscles.  The Spirit did not lead Jesus into suffering as a 'mean' God act but to teach Him, love on Him, cater to Him before the life-challenges that were ahead.  We find that angels attended him in this wilderness.  Mark 1:13 b.  It's an upside-down way of life.

Look back at your life.  What have been your moments of greatest growth?  

For me, they have always come after times of my greatest pain.

Let's try to relish the wilderness.  Let's look at hard days and nights as building our muscles for this life.

"God of this bright-sad season, the sun has set, the night has gathered in, and my soul sinks into Your rest.  Calm my thoughts that I may pass through the wilderness and enter the land You have promised me." Amen Prayer adapted from Lectio 365