Times of Temptation and Wilderness

Then Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over He was hungry. Luke 4:1,2

Jesus had spent 30 years in obscurity and now that He had been acknowledged by the Father and filled by the Spirit, the first thing that happened was He was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Had he not been tempted growing up? Where were the things that would visually tempt Him, Women, power, pleasure? Yet here He was in the wilderness.

John the Baptist had lived in the wilderness before he was launched into His ministry. The children of Israel spent 40 years in the desert before receiving their promised land. In the desert they were tested and trained to rely on God.

Why does God choose a desert? It is harsh, inhospitable, hot and unfriendly. It is a furnace and a refiner and a place where obedience is learned.

When Jesus had finished His fast, He is then tested with three tests that we know of: turning rocks into bread; power and authority over the earth; power over death. Yet Jesus chose a future that was filled with obedience and discomfort.

Coming out of obscurity is the first step, then comes the fast and the wilderness, then the mission. God's way, not ours! Amen!

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