Asher's Blog

I was reading about the flood recently and noticed again that the rain fell for 40 days and 40 nights. I’ve read that story many times before, but this time, the number stayed with me longer than usual.

Then I remembered that Moses went up the mountain to receive the tablets containing the Ten Commandments, and he stayed there for 40 days, not once, but twice, once for the first tablets and again for the second.

My thoughts moved to Goliath, who stood before Israel and taunted them for 40 days (1 Samuel 17:16), until David appeared and ended what had become a daily cycle of fear and intimidation.

I also remembered Elijah, who, after burnout, fear, and deep despair, was strengthened by food provided by angels and then travelled for 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8). That journey wasn’t casual, it came at a point when Elijah was exhausted and questioning everything.

Then there were the spies who explored Canaan for 40 days (Numbers 13:25). What struck me again was that while the exploration took 40 days, unbelief stretched the journey into 40 years, until an entire generation passed away. 

There was also Jonah’s prophecy that Nineveh would be destroyed in 40 days (Jonah 3:4). Yet that destruction never came, because repentance interrupted the outcome, and that generation was spared.

Jesus Himself fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, and only after He overcame temptation did angels minister to Him. And even after His resurrection, Scripture records that our Lord appeared to His disciples for 40 days (Acts 1:3), teaching, affirming, and preparing them for what was next.

I don’t fully know what it is about the number 40, but it consistently seems to mark moments of testing, preparation, confrontation, transition, or divine attention. Almost as though it signals to God, the Father of spirits, that something weighty is unfolding on the earth, something that requires His attention. 

Which brings the question home to me. What is the small thing I should commit to for the next 40 days and 40 nights?

Nothing dramatic but something simple that positions my heart correctly and shows to God I can be trusted with a good, consistent habit. 

I’ll let you know what I discover.