The Desert

Matthew 4:1-11
Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: "Since you are God's Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread." Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: "It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God's mouth." For the second test the Devil took him to the Holy City. He sat him on top of the Temple and said, "Since you are God's Son, jump." The Devil goaded him by quoting Psalm 91: "He has placed you in the care of angels. They will catch you so that you won't so much as stub your toe on a stone." Jesus countered with another citation from Deuteronomy: "Don't you dare test the Lord your God." For the third test, the Devil took him on the peak of a huge mountain. He gestured expansively, pointing out all the earth's kingdoms, how glorious they all were. Then he said, "They're yours - lock, stock, and barrel. Just go down on your knees and worship me, and they're yours." Jesus' refusal was curt: "Beat it, Satan!" He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: "Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness." The Test was over. The Devil left. And in his place, angels! Angels came and took care of Jesus' needs. Teaching and Healing. (MSG)



Have you ever been in a spiritual desert?



I actually live in a physical desert.



In the summer Phoenix is unbelievably hot and dry.



But we have air conditioning and swimming pools and water parks.



Probably living in Phoenix is not a completely accurate picture of what a desert would feel like.



Maybe if I spent the summer on the outskirts of town in a little un-air conditioned hut with no electricity or running water.



No grocery stores.



No neighbors.



No movie theaters.



No restaurants.



That seems like a better picture.



Hot.



Unbearable.



Distracting.



Overwhelming.



Lonely.



Scary.



Now throw hunger into that and I don't know if I would survive.



Add the devil trying to lure me into comfort and I might cave or lose my mind.



However, internally, I am in a spiritual desert.



I want to fall back so bad!



I want to give in to the longing to just sleep or watch 1,000 hours of television.



I want to be mean and cranky.



I want to be left alone while I try to cling to the hem of the robe of my King.



I am in this desert because God is leading me into a new place.



I can see just enough of the joy ahead to keep me pressing forward.



And I WANT joy.



I want it so badly I can practically taste it.



Joy is the carrot on the stick.



It is dangling in front of me and I am scrambling over rocks and cactus and javalinas to get to it!



But the desert is not for frantic wandering.



A spiritual desert is for solitude. It is for connection.



Henri Nowen says that the desert is the place of the great struggle and of the great encounter.



A spiritual desert brings death to what has kept us from life.



And joy isn't bouncing around on a string in the horizon.



Joy is the wave of summer rain that bursts from the clouds the moment I have set myself aside and allowed God to establish his throne in my life.



So.



I'm in the desert.



But the desert doesn't seem so harsh anymore.