The Wilderness

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Matthew 4:1

Last week, I lost my mom. No, thankfully, not in the forever sense. But for about two good hours, my family couldn't find her. She was traveling between my home in Richmond, Virginia, and my sister's home in Atlanta, Georgia. As she entered South Carolina, she realized she was in trouble; she was running out of gas and there was no gas to be found. She managed to make one last phone call relaying where she was and that she had 50 miles of range left in her tank, and then cell service in the area went out. If myself or the rest of my family had had any clue as to how much hurricane Helene was going to affect this stretch of road, we never would have let her leave in the first place. This guilt coupled with the deep fear that something bad had happened to her paralyzed us all as we waited for news.

In the days since this horrible event, I have thought a lot about how it feels to be lost or forgotten. While we may not often be physically lost like my mom was, we will experience seasons of feeling lost spiritually. When we enter these seasons, it's easy to feel like God is not near. But the Bible uses several stories of the lost to show us how untrue that feeling is. The Word often illustrates this theme of isolation with the retellings of wilderness journeys.

For some, the wilderness was their only option for safety:

• Hagar fled to the wilderness to escape persecution from Sarai twice. (Genesis 19 & 21)

• Jacob ran through the wilderness as he fled his revenge-seeking brother, Esau. (Genesis 27)

• Moses hastened to the wilderness after murdering an Egyptian. (Exodus 2)

• The Israelites were led to the wilderness to escape slavery in Egypt. (Exodus 12)

• Elijah escaped to the wilderness after being threatened by Jezebel. (1Kings 19)

For others, the wilderness was a kind of purgatorial punishment:

• The Israelites were sent back into the wilderness when they did not trust God to deliver them from their enemies and into the Promised Land. (Numbers 14)

• Israel and Judah were captured and taken to a wilderness of unfamiliarity in the form of exile as punishment for not following God's commands. (2 Kings 17, 25)

Lastly, some were sent to the wilderness for spiritual formation:

• God called Abraham to leave his home and family and journey into the wilderness to experience His covenant promises. (Genesis 12)

• Moses spent 40 days and nights on Mount Sinai in the wilderness to receive God's laws and instructions.

• Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil after fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. (Matthew 4)

All of these stories have something in common: whether by choice, fear, or divine intervention, every one of these people experienced a season of aloneness. It's safe to say that many of them didn't handle the wilderness well. They groaned, complained, and cried out to God, begging Him for deliverance, answers, and sustenance. Like us, they didn't like feeling forgotten by God or having their concerns seemingly dismissed as unimportant.

When we are feeling lost or forgotten today, it's easy to let our innate desires to be seen, heard, and cared for take precedence over God's instructions to wait, abide, and listen. In the list above, only one person demonstrates how to handle the wilderness well: Jesus.

While most of Jesus's wilderness story focuses on His testing by the devil, His time of isolation is summed up in one concise statement: "After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry" (Matthew 4:2). Now, I don't think Matthew intended to downplay Jesus's physical state going into His fight with the devil, but rather show how Jesus didn't let His physical state take away focus from His spiritual goal: to honor God and resist the enemy.

Well of course He didn't! He's the Son of God! Well, yes and no. I think we (me specially), tend to forget that while Jesus was fully God, He was also fully man. I can guarantee He was as hungry as the Israelites were after leaving Egypt. I'm sure He was missing his home and family like Abraham. He might have even felt some of the frustration of Elijah as He knew many who heard His teachings would not listen and repent.

From a human perspective, the odds were against Jesus going into this fight, and the devil knew this. That's why he tried to use Jesus's hunger, aloneness, and desire for comfort against Him. Satan uses the same tactics with us today! When we're hungry, he leads us to overindulge and threaten our health. When we're lonely, he leads us to crowds who might accept us quickly, but do nothing to help us grow spiritually. He will use our human natures and desires to convince us that the unnatural peace, love, and contentment found in God are just that - unnatural! Thus, he has lead us into the world we have today filled with instant gratification, a do-what-makes-you-happy mentality, and the empty promise that the next best thing is all you need to be great.

Friends, if you are in a wilderness season right now, experiencing isolation or hiddenness, I encourage you to let God use this season for your benefit. Remember that you are not lost or forgotten to Him. Don't buy into the lies that He is not there. I love this quote by Brittany Tate: "When we follow Jesus's perfect example, we come to see the wilderness as a place where faith in God's Word cultivates obedience to God's will over our immediate desires. Through Jesus, we have the ability to remain faithful in the face of temptation and join Him in saying, 'Go away, Satan!'"

Let's use our time in the wilderness as a chance to wait on God's timing, abide in His Son, and listen for the Holy Spirit's instructions. Amen.