The Rebellion We Rehearse

Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2026 – Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday. The day we're marked with dust and reminded of our mortality: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19). It's raw. It's humbling. It's honest about our frailty and our tendency to wander.

Today we're entering Lent; 40 days in the wilderness with Jesus, echoing Israel's 40 years in the wilderness. And if we're honest? Sometimes the wilderness isn't just a season we pass through. Sometimes it's a sentence we've earned. Sometimes our own unbelief keeps us circling the same mountain, dying to the same old patterns, aching for a promised land we can see but can't seem to enter.

That's where we find ourselves today in Numbers 14 with a rebellious generation, and in Psalm 42 with a soul that's simultaneously thirsting for God and drowning in despair.

Numbers 14 shows us what happens when God's people let fear eclipse faith. Standing at the edge of the Promised Land, Israel chose unbelief, and an entire generation died in the wilderness they created through doubt. One day of fear became forty years of wandering. Dust to dust, indeed.

But Psalm 42 gives us a different wilderness song. The psalmist is separated from God's presence, as we try to imagine the same during Lent. Yet three times the psalmist preaches to his own soul: "Hope in God; for I shall again praise him." Even in exile, even panting with thirst, the faithful choose trust over despair.

This is the Lenten invitation: Yes, you are dust. Yes, your unbelief has consequences. Yes, you've circled the same mountains for years. But Jesus entered the wilderness to meet you in yours. These forty days aren't about perfection. They're about honest reckoning with what keeps you wandering, and learning to preach hope to your despairing soul.

Let the old generation inside of you die. Let the new one trust and enter.

Devotional Prompts:

What "giant" has loomed so large in your vision that you can't see God's promise anymore?
Where have you been dying slowly in a wilderness of your own making instead of trusting God forward?
The psalmist asks himself: "Why are you cast down, O my soul?" What would you preach to your own despairing heart today?
What old pattern needs to die in these 40 days of Lent so something new can be born?

Prayer: Father, we confess the times we’ve accused You of leading us into harm when You were actually leading us into promise. Break the power of fear in our lives, and help us trust You even when we can’t see the outcome. Thank You for advocates like Moses who stand in the gap, and Jesus who establishes our hope. Make us people who believe You’re good even in the wilderness of our soul. Amen.