Engagelife’s Weblog

This morning I was reading Mark 1:1-15.  In verses 12-13 is was struck by something new.  Jesus was impelled to go into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit.  He was sent, led or instructed to go into the wilderness.  The wilderness experience for Jesus MUST have been like spiritual boot camp.  Probably not a lot of sleep.  No food.  Wild beasts everywhere.  Worst of all 40 days of temptation.  I think I was most impacted by that statement.

Have you ever felt tortured by Satan.  I have had days when I felt like I was being ambushed by temptation.  I felt weak and tortured in my spirit.  Ever felt that way?  What kills me is that it never lasts more than a couple days at the most, but for Jesus it was 40 days.  Those few days seem like the worst days of my life.  I can’t imagine 40 days of temptation by the evil one. 

One of the best parts about this time of testing was that in the midst of this difficult experience the angels were ministering to Jesus.  For the entire duration of His “boot camp” you see that God sent His servants to sustain but not rescue Jesus.  Like drill sargeants I’m sure they were “cheering” him on.  Encouraging Him to keep going.  God knew that Jesus needed this experience for His upcoming task.

It’s the same for us.  The next time you are going through a long, drawn out, exhausting testing time look around for all the ways that God is sustaining you.  Realize that there is an end to your trial.  God is training you and strengthing you by exercising your spiritual muscles for you.  Remember that there are others surrounding you who are praying and ministering to you too.