A few years ago, I had one of the most exciting and interesting conversations since moving to Portugal. This conversation happened while sitting across from a friend at a local café. There is not much else that I enjoy more than good coffee and good conversation.  Within this conversation, we made our way through a variety of topics before settling on travel, specifically a trip to Barcelona that she had taken some years ago. As an art student, my friend spoke of the grand and elaborate architecture of numerous buildings, especially some of the religious ones. At one point, I couldn't help but ask the question: 

“When you were looking at the architecture, for you, was it a spiritual experience or was it solely an appreciation for the art?” 

Her response gave way to a conversation about religious and spiritual matters. You see, in years past, she had participated in a youth group based on the life of Saint Francis. He was a man born into wealth but who devoted his life to poverty and simple living after having a profound experience with God. She went on to tell about how this youth group would take a camping trip once a year. It was during this trip that one day would be set aside and designated as a “desert day.” She proceeded to explain what this meant:

On this day, each youth would go away by themselves to read some portion of the Bible which would be accompanied by some kind of spiritual writing about the text or about a topic in general. They would read the material and spend time reflecting on what they had read. 

To that point, I had never heard of anything like this within the Catholic religion. But as I listened to her, I couldn’t hold back the smile that formed on my face. This is it. This is what we desire to communicate to those around us; a simple experience with the one true, living and ever-loving God of the Bible through a simple relationship with Jesus Christ. This “desert day” was the simple experience that my friend enjoyed the most about being a part of that youth group. It is intimacy with Jesus, and it is access to God because of Jesus. And the thing is, you don’t have to go to a building to have this experience. You don’t have to confess your sins to a priest or pray to a saint to have this experience. In fact, you don’t even have to designate a special day for it. Really, the formula for such an experience is quite simple: the Bible and prayer. 

In reading the Bible, we can better understand exactly who Jesus is and what He has done for us, we can better understand the characteristics of God, and we can better allow the Holy Spirit to transform our lives. In prayer, we can speak freely and directly to God because of what Jesus did.

Faith is as simple as putting your trust and confidence in something. And faith in God is as simple as putting your trust and confidence in Jesus.

A desert can be described as “a desolate, empty, or forsaken place.” In the Old Testament, we read about how after being freed from slavery in Egypt, the Israelites spent 40 years in such a place as this. 40 years of living isolated; 40 years of waking up to harsh living conditions. Understanding that, let's consider this quote from Matt Chandler (a pastor from the States) as he was speaking about the book of Exodus, 

"The wilderness in the Scripture is a place where people meet their God […] it’s in the wilderness that there is this shift from 'He makes the rules, He’s the boss, He tells me what to do’ to ‘He loves me, He’s for me, I love Him back’ […] it’s in the wilderness, it’s in the dark night of the soul that we learn the compassion and care of God for us.”

The beautiful reality is that during isolation and difficulty, we have the great opportunity to fully experience God through complete abandonment to Him. That's because, during isolation and difficulty, we feel weakest and in weakness, we are better able to accept and receive the grace and love of God. (Have you ever seen someone who claims faith in nothing, yet when difficulty comes, they find themselves crying out to a greater power?) It is also during isolation and difficulty that we feel a need for hope. And the truth is, my friends, this hope is found in Jesus. 

Written by Tiffany Hodge