February 22, 2026
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7, Psalm 32, Romans 5:12-19, and Matthew 4:1-11
Theme: Trusting God in the Wilderness
When Lent begins, Scripture takes us right back to the basics-back to the garden of Eden, back to the wilderness, back to the question every human being wrestle with: Who do I trust?
In Genesis, Adam and Eve have everything they need. God has given them abundance, purpose, relationship. But the serpent plants a seed of doubt-Maybe God’s holding out on you. Maybe you need to take control. And the moment they reach for what was never theirs, shame enters the story. They hide. They cover up. They forget who they are. And Adam starts blame game instead of repenting.
Psalm 32 shows us what that hiding feels like. The psalmist says it’s like drying up inside. But the moment the psalmist stops pretending, the moment the psalmist steps into the light, the psalmist discovers something surprising: That God meets honesty with mercy, not punishment or condemnation.
Apostle Paul picks up that thread in Romans. According to Paul, brokenness entered the world through one person-but grace, he says, comes through Jesus in a way that is bigger, stronger, and more abundant than anything sin can do. Grace doesn’t just balance the scales. It overflows. Paul reminds the Corinthians that “that my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2Cor.12:9).
In the gospel of Matt. 4, we watch Jesus in the wilderness. Hungry, tired, vulnerable. The temper comes with the same old lie: You don’t have enough. You aren’t enough. God won’t show up for you. But Jesus doesn’t grasp. He doesn’t hide. He trusts. He stands in the truth of who he is- God’s beloved.
My dear sisters and brothers, that’s what Lent is for us. Not a season to listen to the temper, not a season to doubt, but a season of clearing away the noise so we can hear the truth again. A season of letting God meet us in the places we’re tempted to hide. A season of remembering that God’s grace is stronger than whatever has gone wrong in our lives.
Two Reflections for the Week
1. Where is God inviting you to trust again?
2. Where do you need to let the grace of God speak louder than guilt?
Paul reminds us: that the grace of God overflows. Where might you need to stop hiding and let God’s mercy reach you?
As we journey through our wilderness during this Lenten week, I invite us to hide in the Rock of ages, Jesus Christ our Lord and our savior. Rock of ages cleft for me.