Then Jesus was led by the Spirit to be alone in the desert to be tempted by the devil. He had gone without food for forty days and forty nights. (Matthew 4:1,2)
I wanted to explore this week the times that Jesus was isolated.
After Jesus was baptized and commissioned to go tell the people about repentance and the kingdom of God, He went to the desert alone to be tempted. He prepared Himself for His real ministry by recognizing His bodily weaknesses- by fasting. He prepared Himself by facing evil before He began to do good.
Each time we take a vacation it is a breath of air to energize and prepare ourselves for what is just around the corner. God gave us a Sabbath Day each week to re-energize, pray, worship, do deeds of love and mercy.
This corona-virus time is different. It is isolation and being alone. But it can also be used to read, refresh, re-energize our souls. Jesus' forty days were doubtless days of prayer and self-searching. But He came face to face with evil in the form of the devil- an angel of darkness (not everything spiritual is good). Our alone times during this corona-virus time help us to see who we are, where are spiritual weaknesses are, and also to grow in our reliance and faith in God.
Jesus' temptations were to 1) Create physical comfort in an evil way; 2) Test the protection of God; 3) Worship false things instead of God to get worldly acclaim.
Some of the temptations we face are to bargain with God. God if you will keep me from this corona-virus thing then I will do this or that for you. We may be tempted to be angry with God- blaming Him for the illnesses. Or we may simply be tempted to give up on God altogether- leaving ourselves to our own devices. But life is not all about physical comfort or health. Jesus' fasting shows us this. Fasting seems so foreign to us (unless a doctor tells us to do so), because we value the physical comforts of life so much.
We could be tempted to test God. IN our day it may be that we just think or act like God will protect us and we don't have to be careful. So we don't socially distance or wear a mask or wash our hands. Carelessness is not good. We could be more careless when the virus was in China or California- but it is here now.
We could be tempted to give up on worship of God. It takes some effort to go online and worship, or drive to a church drive in service. There is no networking or face to face communication at church. It is simply between us and God.
Jesus was alone to face His temptation. That is not a bad thing. Sometimes in our loneliness we can be tempted to think God does not see what we face or He doesn't care. But God sees and cares. Again, if Google can tell you your commercial preferences for their ads, and see where you live, does not Almighty God know more?
Our times now are a challenge to our souls. Face the challenge relying on God and knowing scripture (Jesus quoted it 3 times in facing His temptations). In the end, Jesus was not alone. The angels came and ministered to Him. May they do that for you this week!
Prayer: Lord, in my aloneness, I face different temptations. Help me to be faithful and abide in your love.
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