Forty Days

Easter Devotional 2023 - Week 1

Forty days. Can you do anything for forty days? I remember when I trained for races my coach would always say to me, “One foot in front of the other, Beth. You can do anything for three hours. This is just a small chunk of your day. You’ve got this!”. But, that’s just a few hours, right? That’s not over a month, though. Ugh, forty days feels really long, really heavy.

Science tells us that a healthy human can survive on just water for approximately two to three months. That feels daunting to me, since my tummy starts growling every two hours and the thought of not getting those dark chocolate almonds after supper makes me a little depressed.

The synoptic gospels tell us, the spirit, God’s spirit, called Jesus out into the wilderness: to do without, to be tested, to (in my opinion) be drawn nearer to God.

Some people like to replicate these forty days each year in a season called Lent. This season of the church is leading us up to Easter. Think of it as a time of heart preparation to receive the fullness of the resurrection story.

I will participate in Lent again this year. I’ll get through those 40 days. Because let’s be honest, I’m not going to be starving in the desert or being dared to jump off the tallest temple as Jesus was. I’m going to simply take away something that could leave space. Space for financial margin to give more. Space for time to sit and pray. Space in my tummy, to experience what a little less truly feels like. I seem to find God when there’s more space in my life. The times in my life where I felt the presence of God the most were in the most spacious, sparing times. Twelve years old in an open cornfield, wearing shoes that had holes in the toes, lying on my back looking at the brilliant blue sky. Thirty-two years old, on the side of a mountain in Eswitini, Africa where women and children had sought shelter from starvation and abuse. In their presence, with no phone, no AC, no American luxuries, God sat with me and folded little tiny toddler clothes.

Regardless of whether you participate in Lent, I pray that you will see these days as precious as we walk toward the marked date of the Resurrection of Jesus. I pray for some space in your days. Some simple times with the Holy Spirit, just you and the Spirit, in sync and in peace.

Love & Blessings,

Beth

written by Beth Pettry