Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Matthew 4:1
I remember when the contractor told us our modular home was arriving to the property we’d purchased. We were so excited! I was with my hubby and our oldest as the cranes arrived to lift each piece onto the foundation. Our oldest was ecstatic because what could be better for a little guy than big equipment and mud?
My parents had decided to tag along too, so when I went running towards the woods, the contractor asked my mom what was wrong. She responded, “Oh, she’s probably just sick.”
I think that at this point he questioned himself as to whether he should’ve told us when the house was showing up. I’m sure he’d seen jittery people during the moving process before, but maybe I took it to a whole new level! He asked Mom, “Is she that nervous?”
Mom said, “No, she’s just pregnant!”
I pretty much had a case of constant nausea during those days, but my boys were worth every bit of discomfort I experienced!
We’ve probably all went through something that wasn’t so pleasant in order to get amazing results. They seem so big at the time, but when we look at what Jesus went through, we stand in awe and wonder at what He endured for us. He was completely unselfish. He even went off to be tempted by the devil, which sounds like misery to me. We won’t even talk about the humiliation and pain that He endured on the cross. It leads us to pure appreciation that He thought we were worth every single thing He went through.
When we’re going through those uncomfortable times, the devil will tempt us with everything possible. He loves it when we’re weak. If we’re nervous, he’ll try to worm his way in to make us question ourselves. If we’re going through a rough time, he’ll try to make us think that God has abandoned us. He’ll even try to convince us we aren’t in the perfect will of God when it’s absolutely clear we are.
Jesus was led by the Spirit, and that Spirit lives inside of us to help in every temptation the devil dishes out. With the example of how Jesus handled the devil in the wilderness, we know we can win and not allow anyone to keep us from God’s plan in our lives.
Start the Lenten Season with gratitude, and show that we’ve learned from the devil’s attack on Jesus. I challenge you to do something a little uncomfortable in order to give someone a big reward. I know many people will deprive themselves of things, but without reward to others. I would love to see you deprive yourself of something so that someone else benefits. Isn’t that really why Jesus went through everything He did here on earth? It wasn’t for Him, it was for our benefit.
