Wildernesses, Temptations, and Trials

             Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” (Matthew 4:1-3)

As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you, (Galatians 4:13)

Perhaps, because He is Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus’s calendar had written across the forty days immediately after His baptism, “Forty Days Temptation.” Maybe He knew exactly what was coming. Most of us don’t expect that when we have taken on some sort of ministry, the next seven days, weeks, months, or years will be spent uncomfortably wandering around, hungry, and under attack.

What does any of that have to do with ministering? How are we to serve God or help anyone else if we’re sick, homeless, poor, improperly educated, or have any of a thousand other trials in our lives?  How are we to do so if the only ways forward involve what seems impossible – at least without compromise and/or help from untrustworthy sources? How are we supposed to minister when there are so many distractions and roadblocks?

Today’s passages suggest that distractions, roadblocks, temptations, and struggles are part of ministry. In fact, they may strengthen your ministry or give you a chance to minister to someone, somewhere, or somehow that you didn’t recognize. I know that we’ve all heard this sort of thing, but we turn away, still prevented from moving except in circles and beat ourselves up for our failure.

Jesus was led into the desert for 40 days. For whatever reason, He was not free to leave before that. He was not permitted to avoid temptation – just to overcome it. Sometimes, I think we underestimate the struggle He faced. He was/is God, so 40 days and multiple temptations? No biggie. He’d just work on His tan, maybe do a survey of the critters living in the area to see how they like it, take up basket weaving, or whatever. We tend to like to pretend that Jesus was in on the plan in such a way that made it all easy.

What I think let Him get through this difficult time was that He accepted the situation. It was what it was, and going through it was the only way. There was no denial, no depression, no anger, no bargaining, and no blaming (that might be part of depression, denial, and/or anger). We don’t understand when we have to walk around the mountain or the city again. And again. But overcoming that is instant tends to teach us to be easily defeated