How many of us are living with doubts about God’s intention toward us? Do we really believe that the hardships of life must be endured? Is God good? Can I be my own solution? Is there a shortcut that will take me around all that is uncomfortable?
Matthew 4:1-11 (CSB)
4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written:
He will give his angels orders concerning you,
and they will support you with their hands
so that you will not strike
your foot against a stone.
7 Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.
We find Jesus in the desert in a period of testing following His baptism. He has been there for 40 days and nights, fasting. This would definitely make me hungry. Jesus was born into this world and was human, therefore He needed to eat. Forty days of fasting is definitely a cause to be hungry.
Satan begins to accuse and attack. His first temptation is to appeal to the hardship Jesus is enduring. Satan immediately plays to Jesus’ Sonship. He is basically making the following points. You have the power, therefore, you can take a shortcut. You don’t have to be hungry, because you can make your own food. You do not have to do things this way.
Are we not subject to the same voice of Satan in our head? He is telling us that we are not required to do things God’s way. We can create our own path and timeline. We can use our knowledge and abilities to write a new story. In this story we are not required to give up anything that we don’t want to give up. We can have whatever we desire, if we are able to obtain it. We need not do things God’s way.
How does Jesus answer? He quotes scripture. He reminds Satan that God will provide. We are often unable to see God’s provision because we are looking for a certain answer. We cannot see God’s provision in our hunger, because we do not understand the truth about sustenance. It is God who sustains. We can have food to combat our hunger, but our life is from God. Substituting worldly answers will never substitute for God.
I am challenging myself to pay attention to the accusations thrown at me by Satan. He is a liar and an accuser. I an not required to listen nor believe what He says. One of the ways I can combat Him is to know God’s Word, to build my life on it, and to know how to use it’s truth to silence the enemy. This is the example Jesus set in the desert.No