The Big 4-0

When the week came for my big 4 – 0 birthday, I was not too thrilled.  My husband had planned a small dinner with friends who I knew shared in my “oldness.” But for me, I was not looking forward to the evening as it represented a desert of sorts, a dying.   Few of us love to be reminded of our growing age and the downside of life.  The badge of 40 was heavy.

These forty days of Lent may land in that same category.  This may not be the loveliest season of the Church calendar.  There are no gifts to be bought and no decorating to be done.  It’s a solemn time.   Could it be said that we dread these forty days?

We are not the first humans to experience forty days of waiting and meditating.  

•In the story of Noah, “rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.” Genesis 7:12
•In David and Goliath, God’s people endured forty days of taunting and challenges from Goliath before David is sent to the battlefield.  1 Samuel 17:16

•And after his crucifixion, Jesus remained and walked with his disciples for forty days and nights before ascending to heaven. Acts 1:3

And from Matthew,  Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights.  Matthew 4:1-3, The Message, Eugene Patterson

Looking closely at the words from Mark I’m intrigued by this interpretation of the forty days being a time to prepare for the Test.  It strikes me that these are Teacher student days with a ratio of 1:1.  It’s as though we have our own individual tutor leading our learning exercises. Desert days are not for our suffering but for our preparation.  These days are for the storing up and for new growth to prepare us for what is ahead.  Could we wildly consider that these forty days are intended for the Teacher to give us the gifts we seek and for the Teacher to do the decorating in our lives?

Maybe we need to turn our inward prisms and see a fresh day within these forty desert days.  It's not what I can give up for Lent but what can I gain from my Teacher.

On my 40th birthday, oh so many years ago, we arrived at the house where the small dinner was being hosted.  I immediately noticed the number of cars far exceeded my understand of a small dinner.  As we arrived at front door, it burst open and dozens of dear friends awaited me. My dear man had even flown in my parents and sisters for the event.  The words of love and affirmation overwhelmed me.  People spoke of love, joy, laughter, and mainly of our Lord who had led us all to that place in time.  The 40 experience was not the dreaded day any longer but a most cherished gift in my life.

In God’s economy, the party may truly be beginning after our forty desert days.