Still Searching for a Reason

I like the idea of walking into the wilderness for a particular reason.  When the angels took Jesus into the wilderness, there was a clear understanding of what would happen.  The Accuser would tempt him.  He knew why he was going.  His purpose was firmly established.

I am not like that.  I choose to walk into the wilderness to discover something about myself. Faced with the same purpose as Jesus, I am absolutely confident that I would not last one night in that spiritual wasteland.  My resolve is not that high.  The first temptation would have sent me over the edge.

Perhaps that is the reason Jesus took it upon himself to walk into a wilderness that had the must cunning of all the Accusers.  Jesus could wrestle with the temptations that came out of the mouth of this one, who constantly tries to prove our lack of commitment to God. This attorney, who wants nothing less than to show the lack of faithfulness to the Holy One.  And now, to completely prove the depravity of humanity, the Accuser puts on the stand the Son of Man.  If the Accuser wins his case, he will defeat the One, who came to the world to give us life.  As we know, the Accuser lost, Jesus passed the test, and we lay witness to the Son of God, who taught us to love like we never have loved before.

And now I take my journey into the wilderness with the confidence that I will not have to do the work that has already been done for me.  I enter this place hoping to be drawn closer to my Creator.  I hope to be made knew when I finish my 40 days of wandering through the scorched places in my soul.  I start this journey with good news, I hope!

Praised be to the one who made me in His image and did the work that I could not do for myself.  The battles that lay before me are rough, and I continue to struggle with those things that weigh me down.  But I wrestle with these things with the full confidence that I am saved from the worst part of the war on my heart, for the one who called me into relationship continues to seek me out and restore my soul.