One of the most distressing portions of Scripture is the part of Luke’s gospel that tells us Jesus “was led by the Spirit in the wilderness” to be tempted by the devil (Luke 4:1). The Spirit took Jesus into the dark wilderness? We think of God as the One who keeps danger at bay, not One who invites us to face difficulties.
But God never promises to steer us clear of temptation or intense difficulty. Far better, the Spirit promises to go with us into the mouth of the dragon. God went through the tumultuous waters of the Red Sea with Israel (Isaiah 43), and God was present with the young Hebrew men in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3). God was present with Jesus, and God will be with us.
In the wilderness, Satan’s temptation was a multistep ploy to get Jesus to go on His own, separating Himself from the very One who was with Him there. Satan tempted Jesus to:
• turn stone to bread (providing for Himself rather than trusting God, Luke 4:3).
• worship Satan and gain all Satan’s domain (grabbing His own kingdom rather than remaining under God’s rule, Luke 4:5).
• hurl Himself off the temple’s pinnacle (taking life into His own hands rather than simply trusting God’s goodness, Luke 4:9).
With each temptation, however, Jesus answered Satan with Scripture—rebuking Satan’s words with God’s words. Jesus knew the truth, and He knew God was with Him even in that vile place.
I have a friend who’s angry at God for not averting suffering and pain at a particular moment in his life. I believe Jesus was with my friend, however, even in his pain. If he would trust God’s kind presence, he would discover something far better than release from his painful circumstances.
More:
• Psalm 23:3
• 1 Corinthians 10:13
• James 5:11
Next:
Read each temptation in Luke 4. What would be your equivalent temptation of turning stone to bread, worshiping the devil, and testing God by leaping off the temple? How would you handle each temptation?
jstabel on January 12, 2011 at 5:36 am
Its a good call-to remind us of how we christians handle temptations and what measures we take to bring ourselves out of the scenarios we find ourselves.Christ chose God’s way out of the temptations but we christians always devise our own ‘better’ way out when we could simply seek and take God’s way out.I pray God will always supply the needed grace at such times.AMEN.
lindagma on January 12, 2011 at 7:33 am
After years of abuse as a child, I hung on to “control” as if my life depended on it. Oh the heart ache and stress I needlessly went through by not letting go and letting God fight my battles and work out my difficulties. It is so freeing to let go of everything and trust Him to know what’s best and work out the details. My first “knee jerk” reaction to every situation is “what can I do?” Sometimes it takes me a couple of days to let go…and I still have to remind myself to take my hands off. But when I do, He is always faithful…I have even laughed out loud at the way things unfold and I know it can ONLY be HIM. That, in my opinion is what it means to have joy in the midst of trials…and that speaks volumes to the unsaved.
GrowinginChrist on January 12, 2011 at 7:58 am
This is why it is so important to read and study the bible, to commit God’s word to memory, so that when we come into temptation we will be able to use God’s words to rebuke satan, and make him flee. I also believe, by casting our cares on Jesus will help us thru times when we are tempted. When we worry over things, it can give satan an opening to tempt us into making wrong decisions.
eppistle on January 12, 2011 at 9:02 am
Though God may allow us to be tempted, we should not seek the thrill of temptation with the plan not to be tempted. Instead our hatred of sin and our knowledge of our weakness should motivate us to pray in desperation, “Lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:13).
The reason why God allows temptations to come into our lives is so that we will respond with perseverance and not yield to temptation so that we can mature through the process (James 1).
foolforChrist on January 12, 2011 at 9:50 am
I have come to realize how important it is to be steeped in God’s Word because in those moments of temptation, it is so easy to take the wrong path. Satan flees when you answer with God’s Word.
I have faced trials and tribulations in the last year that I never thought would happen , but out of that I am finding that I have grown stronger spiritually and I am learning to “let go and let God”.
I understand that these things have to happen to make me a better person and put me where God wants me to be and things happen at the right time in your life.
If the happenings of last year had occurred in the previous year, I would have ended up a mental wreck or possibly, taken my life.
Sometimes I do let the enemy in and have a pity party but those moments are getting shorter and less frequent. I focus on the cross and there’s no comparison – He’s already taken all the pain and suffering so why wallow in self pity. It’s better for me to focus on others and how I can reach out to them because there are many people out there hurting a lot more and don’t know the Lord.
I am standing tall on God’s promises and pray that I will pass the tests daily. I am so grateful for devotions like odj and all you out there who share daily – Thank you for helping me in my walk – last year, some of you really spoke God’s Word to me in the moment of my greatest need, and helped me tremendously.
THANK YOU
Ruth on January 12, 2011 at 10:37 am
I note that when the Spirit led Jesus through the wilderness, there was a particular length of time that Jesus was supposed to linger there. Forty days is a very long time to go without food. Alas, God knew that Jesus needed the forty days to develop his being, his reliance on the Father. After the forty days was over and the temptations were over, we realize that Jesus grew in the ways the Father wanted him to. So often we try to get out of the problem (the wilderness) on our own and shorten the pain, or so we think. If we would only realize that the Spirit is there leading us through the jungle and developing our characters the whole time, we wouldn’t try to shorten it . We need to totally trust Him for what is happening in our lives, whether the mountain top experience or the valley, and know that we can only become the person He wants us to become if we follow Him.
sowharvest on January 12, 2011 at 12:01 pm
Thank you for this timely word. I certainly I have read this particularly passage so many times. Yet, only today did I have a new revelation regarding the Jesus experience:
1st –Jesus went into the desert— The desert is synonmous with dead, dry, and barren places. And when life is dead—in a rut not moving forward and despair abounds— that is where the devil likes to deal with us. Think about it! When we are in rough/tough situations it feels as if everything is going out the window so he lures us with “seemingly” solutions[but they are only temporary].
2nd–Jesus speaking the word of GOD– The WORD of GOD is LIFE & LIGHT. So speaking the word of GOD to the situation means that we bring light and water and life to a situation we think to be hopeless/dead.
3rd– Adam was in garden(which to me signifies life) and there death came into this world. Whereas Jesus was in the desert(which to me signifies deadness) and there LIFE came into this world. That Jesus told that woman at the well I will “giving you living waters” so that we can have the Word of GOD to speak LIFE into our dead/hopeless situation.
I too over the past few years have had some serious challenges and have learned to listen and then speak the WORDS of GOD to them even when I am not really feeling anything but a pity party. Yes, I still have times of pity parties but the pity party don’t last as long and are less frequent. And for that I Thank GOD.
Thank you Winn for this timely message I so needed encouragement today.
daisymarygoldr on January 12, 2011 at 5:48 pm
Good observations, sowharvest! And Pastor Winn, I don’t know how it is taught here but in church where I grew up, believers are clearly told to be prepared for wilderness testing after they got baptized. I have seen many who either got persecuted or disowned by family or lost jobs or suffered sickness or faced death of loved ones after becoming Christians.
To my understanding, the crossing of the Red Sea is a type of water baptism (1 Cor 10: 2) after which God led the children of Israel through the wilderness. They got angry and complained against God when they got hungry or thirsty. They tested Him by saying, “Is the LORD here with us or not?” And to make matters worse when Moshe delayed coming down from the mountain, they bowed down to worship a golden calf. I must learn from, and not repeat, Israel’s mistakes (1 Cor 10:11).
Unlike the Israelites who took 40 years, Jesus passed the wilderness test with flying colors in just 40 days! He was able to enter his ministry after He overcame the devil’s temptations. Likewise every believer that is united with Christ in baptism will face those same temptations.
This world is a wilderness journey and even though I don’t like them, my life is full of trials and testings. Just as gold is purified and tested, I must be tested before God will use me for His purposes. Jesus sympathizes and helps me in my temptations. On my part it is important that I must have a thorough knowledge of the Bible to both correctly quote and apply scriptural truths.
In order to handle temptations, all I can do is to gain strength from God’s Word, persevere in prayer and continue to stand firm through sufferings. Then my faith will mature and God also promises to bless me when I patiently endure testing and temptation (James 1:12)