03/01/2020
Sometimes our spirit leads us into a vulnerable place; one in which we find ourselves alone, and being tempted, or tested. We often experience this when God is teaching us, or preparing us for something new; perhaps a calling. It can happen in those times when we are about to be lead into a new ministry... or God is preparing us to be stretched in some way. Have you ever found yourself experiencing a spiritual wilderness? Are you there now, and don’t really know why?
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”
Matthew 4:1 ESV
Jesus was lead into the wilderness after he was baptized by John the Baptist, and during this transition period He was tempted by Satan; He was shown things, and offered things in an attempt to lead Him away from God... this was a test of faith, and loyalty for Jesus, it was meant to determine whether either Jesus the man, or Jesus the Son of God, would fall victim to Satan. We know that He endured great physical hardship to bring him to a weakened state before being tempted both spiritually and physically. Would He be ready for what was about to be asked of Him? Would Jesus the man be strong enough to endure, and how about the Spirit? Would the cup He would be asked to drink from be too bitter for either of them, or was He ready to receive the calling, to bear the cross, and drink obediently, and lovingly, from the cup?
We are given final exams in our journeys of faith too. I have often wondered what would have happened if Jesus had failed in some manner during His temptation... would He have been sent back for more instruction, or would a new plan, and a new Messiah been called into play? Too much was at stake for God to call out a partially prepared Jesus to face the cross.
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
John 3:17 ESV
As I think on this I always come to the same conclusion... God the Father was confident in His Son’s ability to endure the test, and answer the call, He knew Jesus could face the hardship, temptation, and cross. I base this on what He said as Jesus rose from the waters of baptism...
“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."”
Matthew 3:16-17 ESV
There is a difference between a calling and being led to some new task or area of ministry. A calling is to a new way of life, or living, like leaving the secular world to enter Christendom, or a new spiritual vocation like becoming a pastor, prophet, or missionary. We often confuse where we are being led within our calling, with the calling itself, listen to Paul as he differentiates between our walk, and our calling as Christians...
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,”
Ephesians 4:1 ESV
The disciples were called by Jesus, and then led by Him as they followed. He calls us in the same way today when he asks us to pick up our cross (the calling) and then says “follow me” (the walk), do you see the difference?
“Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Matthew 16:24 ESV
I was called to be a Christian, and immediately entered a spiritual wilderness in which I faced physical and spiritual hardship as I learned faith, and then after many years, and much instruction, I was tested. I really didn’t know why I was being tested, or what was ahead for me, until I heard the call to become a minister... not a pastor, or a missionary in a foreign land, but simply to minister, and what you are reading now is in keeping with that ministry. Now I face another wilderness, and have entered into a new and different vulnerable place, and I am not completely certain what lies ahead... only that God will not allow me to face the ultimate sifting, or test until He has a new calling for me, and is certain I will pass the exam. Perhaps I will never be tested in such a manner again, and will simply be raptured at the second coming just as I am.
“For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 ESV
So if we are in the wilderness it is good, and for our instruction; we are meant to walk within it, and will be led here and there to be given understanding. But, if we face a final examination, when the temptation comes, it will be the harbinger of a new calling. Even so, rest assured that your old calling will never fall away... only be built upon. If you were once called to pastor, you might be called again to be a prophet, but you will always be a pastor as well... just as Jesus is our High Priest, but is also a prophet, and has other callings.
“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
Romans 11:29 ESV
So whatever wilderness we find ourselves in we should celebrate it. When hardships come and we are weakened we should find joy in them, and learn from them, this makes our faith stronger, gives us new understanding, and brings us to new places or duties of faith, but when we find ourselves being sifted, and tested, we can look forward to being spiritually stretched in some bold new way, or to being called into a new vocation within God’s will and plan for us, and when we are thus tested is God any less confident in us?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the wilderness I am in today. Thank you for your instruction that I receive as I walk about, and am being prepared for what lies ahead. Thank you Holy Father when, if it be your will, I am sifted, and tested, in final preparation for some amazing new task, or to receive a new calling. Help me Father to know you better each day, and let no hardship pass without my finding your lesson in it. If it be your will Father then call me that I might serve you in new ways, but if it be your will that I remain here, exactly where you have placed me, where I am, then give me perseverance, and give me peace, rest, and satisfaction here... in this, my given wilderness. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who calls us, and then commits us to the wilderness. Great are you who is with us as we wander, and guides our every step. We praise your name Father as we rest in you here, but we also praise you when facing hardships and finally trials and sifting. You clothe us in your armor, and arm us with your Word, as you protect us from temptation, and we sing in your triumph of your glory in victory... through Jesus. I ask that you temper me in my humility, because all glory is yours Lord, now, and forevermore.
“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 ESV
Rich Forbes