“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1 NIV)
The Spirit intentionally leads us into places of temptation. That’s an uncomfortable thought, isn’t it? Definitely enough to make one squirm in the seat. A God who calls us into hard stretches is not in keeping with our Loving Father persona. We note, though, that this is New Testament and this is His Son, Jesus, being led out into the Negev without food or water. Why? What Kingdom purpose is served in long lonely stretches? How could soul-crushing hardship be in our best interest?
Temptation exposes what’s hidden in our hearts.
I struggled to fall asleep last night. The projector in my mind would not go dim. Scenes from the past kept playing; highlighting my decisions and failures. Whenever we find ourselves in the wilderness, it’s easy to pull out the reel and look for the trail markers. When we do that, though, we fail to remember that the Spirit leads us to lonely stretches on purpose.
It’s actually His mercy that carries us to barren places before promised places. Extreme conditions provide unique opportunity to express impurity; the foreign bodies still deep in our skin. If left un-extracted, we’d carry our iniquities into the next season, causing further infection and destruction.
“Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you could keep His commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8:2-3 NIV)
Know that the tempter will always show up in our wilderness seasons. He won’t be ugly or obvious. No, he’ll be attractive and smooth, offering the things we long for most. Identify temptations before he come knocking. Prepare your ‘no’ now, because his offer will be enticing. Choose today to run in the direction of God’s commands. Hide them in your heart and meditate on them often. Resist the tempter and he will flee.
Lord, we recognize that You lead us into wilderness seasons to satisfy Kingdom purpose. Expose our iniquities. Humble us as we wait on You. Sustain us supernaturally by Your word. Help us run toward You instead of the tempter. Amen.