Keep pressing on

Luke 4:1 - Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

                                                                           

Jesus being filled with the Spirit was led into the wilderness. Matthew in his gospel mentions in Matthew 4:1 specifically that Jesus was led by the Spirit to be tempted in the wilderness. This does mean that God had a purpose for Jesus in the wilderness. In our context a wilderness experience would refer to a season of emptiness, hardship, loneliness or dryness. And I’m sure all of us go through this and in fact we have these seasons quite a lot of times.

I’m reminded of the heroes from the old testament who had their own wilderness like experiences. Let’s take Moses for instance, he became a shepherd for 40 years after running away from the palace. God could have just used him when Moses had the position and the power to deliver His people. But God’s ways are different. Or let’s take Joseph who was sold to slavery by his own brothers and later was sent to prison for integrity. I’m sure the prison experience was too hard for him. What was God trying to do?

My friends if you are going through some major wilderness like experience in your life, don’t be discouraged. He hasn’t stopped working in you. God is working in each and every one of us so that we exercise our faith muscles during such wilderness like experiences to get more intimate with Him. Keep pressing on knowing that His promises are going to come through.

Samuel Thomas (Sam)
Sam is a Christian minister who is serving the Lord in various capacities. He is working through Cross Impact and also involved with Crossway Church. He can be reached on samvthom16@gmail.com