The flood continued forty days.
Forty stripes may be given him, but not more.
I have led you forty years in the wilderness.
So the land had rest for forty years.
Forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil.
He presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days. Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.
- Gen. 7:17, Deut. 25:3, Deut. 29:5, Judges 3:11, Luke 4:2, Acts 1:3, Acts. 7:30 [RSV]
Forty, forty, forty - scriptural periods of fasting, testing, punishment, waiting, rest, revelation, sustenance...
What do we see when surveying the “back forty” of our lives? Can we see God's hand in allowing a specific season? Perhaps with some reflection we can learn, grow and embrace our own particular back forty.
Lord, enable me to perceive and receive Your seasons of "forty" in my own life.