Sunday March 27, 2022

Created by Mary Clare Kunkel

Joshua 5:9–12 (NRSV)

9 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal to this day. 10 While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. 11 On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

Devotion

This passage comes off the heels of the Israelites crossing the Jordan River after escaping from their slavery in Egypt. Prior to this the Israelites spent decades in the wilderness. In the liminal wilderness space they lived, day to day relying on fresh manna everyday. However, now they find themselves in a newfound stability. They can eat from steady crops rather than doing the unpredictable work of gathering.

Lent is also a liminal time. We are on the precipice of Jesus’s death and resurrection, but we aren’t there yet. First, we must face ourselves. We are wandering in the wilderness of self-reflection. This is holy work. It can be difficult. However, it is necessary for growth.

What are ways in which your life is unpredictable and what have you learned about yourself through the uncertainty? How are you craving stability at this time, or are you in a stable season? Where do you see God working within both stability and the wilderness?

Prayer

God of the Wilderness and Gilgal,

You guide us through this life with love and care. Help us to lean into uncertainty with the knowledge you are alongside us. Provide for us as you provided for the Israelites. Lead us into stability when the time is right, and lead us into the wilderness all the same. Empower us to trust in you. Reveal to us what we must learn about ourselves during this season of Lent. But, also what we must learn about you.

We love you and we praise you,

Amen.