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.