Are You In The Desert?

"THEN JESUS was led (guided) by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness (desert) to be tempted (tested and tried) by the devil. And He went without food for forty days and forty nights, and later He was hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, If You are God's Son, command these stones to be made [loaves of] bread. But He replied, It has been written, Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. Then the devil took Him into the holy city and placed Him on a turret (pinnacle, gable) of the temple sanctuary. And he said to Him, If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, He will give His angels charge over you, and they will bear you up on their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, On the other hand, it is written also, You shall not tempt, test thoroughly, or try exceedingly the Lord your God. Again, the devil took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory (the splendor, magnificence, preeminence, and excellence) of them. And he said to Him, These things, all taken together, I will give You, if You will prostrate Yourself before me and do homage and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Begone, Satan! For it has been written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve. Then the devil departed from Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him." (Matthew 4: 1 - 11 - AMPLIFIED BIBLE)


Without any conscious desire on our part, life brings us into the desert in many ways. It appears in those dreary days and weeks of dry and empty wastes: day after day of nothing but hard work, grief, sickness, emotional and mental fatigue. Many people have passed through deserts (geographical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual) and have come out on the other side into a garden of more abundant joy and a deeper peace. We have all probably done so more than once.

Remember in Christ we will always have the strength to keep on through barren patches of life, trusting Him for the guidance and power to bring us through.

Also, remember that when we are hungry, thirsty, weary, and despairing, we need to renew our hope in God's love for us because He cares deeply for our well being!