On Sunday we heard from Perry Soh on his experiences with Patient Endurance. One of the things that stood out to me was when he reminded us of Jesus’ experience in the wilderness.
In Matthew 4 it says
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”
Not only was Jesus being tempted by the devil but he was also fasting for forty days and forty nights. As mentioned in Matthew 4:2,
“After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”
Before I move any further, let me outline some things to consider in Jesus’ experience in the wilderness:
1. Jesus was led by the Spirit.
When the scripture says that Jesus was led by the spirit there is an assumption that Jesus was not intending to go in the direction He was being led to. In fact, there needed to be a choice in choosing to follow the Spirit. John 14:31 says
“…but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.“Come now; let us leave.”
We know that Jesus loves His father and does exactly what His father commands. Considering the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), We can see throughout His life that He has submitted to the Father and the Holy Spirit all the way to His death on the cross.
2. Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Before Jesus chose His disciples and preached the Word, He was led to the wilderness. The wilderness is synonymous with being a dry place, a place of isolation, a place where you are left alone. I am unsure of the conditions of the wilderness except that there were stones around Him, which was indicated in Matthew 4:3:
“The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
However, we do know that He was alone and tempted by the devil. Jesus was led to a place where the only things that could comfort Him was God and the Holy Spirit.
3. Jesus was fasting for forty days and forty nights, and he was hungry.
Jesus was not only led into a wilderness that he didn’t necessarily want to go to, to be tempted by the devil, but He was also fasting for forty days and forty nights. The scripture made sure to indicate his human nature by stating that He was hungry. In Matthew 4:3-4, when the tempter came to him and said,
“If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” And Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Jesus was telling the devil not only what He knew to be true, but how he was able to be hungry and still resist the devil’s temptations.
What I took away from this was:
1. In this Season of Patient Endurance, we will need to make a choice to choose to follow the Spirit’s lead. This decision is not at all as easy as Jesus made it seem. It requires you to submit your plans, preferences, and priorities to the Lord. It requires you to align yourself with the Holy Spirit so that you can hear, listen and obey.
2. The Season of Patient Endurance is going to involve being placed in situations and conditions that are difficult and we may not have the same comforts we were accustomed to in other seasons. This Season of Patient Endurance is going to involve testing. Whether it be your faith, your character, your hope or even your foundation, just like Jesus, we will need to be tested so that we can endure till the end with the power of the Holy Spirit.
3. In this Season of Patient Endurance we will need to rely on something that will help us endure. We need to rely on every word that comes from the mouth of God because bread alone will not sustain us.
As I was thinking of Matthew 4:4 I felt the Holy Spirit change the words in my head to say “Man does not live on brain alone…” In psychology we learn that the brain is wired to protect itself. This is important in understanding how we make decisions. When we are placed in a situation or circumstance that is deemed difficult, painful and involves some discomfort, our brains naturally look for options that reduce the amount of pain, difficulty, and discomfort in order to protect itself. For some of us, this may be avoiding the situation or circumstance altogether, and for others, it may be choosing things that distract or numb the pain, difficulty, and discomfort we are experiencing so that we won’t feel it as much. Our brains are not bad but they need to be submitted to transformation and renewal by the word of God and the Holy Spirit (Rom. 12:2).
When we are patiently enduring something, our brains are not necessarily the best tool to help us endure, as it has an agenda of its own that may be counter to what God has. That is why I believe man should not live on brain alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Jesus chose to rely on God and the Holy Spirit and was led into the wilderness to be tempted. I wonder if Jesus would have chosen a different path if he was led by His brain and human nature? Jesus was able to patiently endure the wilderness and the temptations of the devil by depending on God and the Holy Spirit to see Him through and give Him what He needed.
My prayer for us all in this season of Patient Endurance is that we would not live on bread (or brain) alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. May we align ourselves with the Holy Spirit to be led and fed by Him. Let us continue to not conform to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds by God’s word through the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!