Questions of Why?

Ever wonder why we go through trials and temptations? Me too! Lately, I’ve asked that very same question. I couldn’t understand why everything had to be so hard. Some days it feels like there’s just no relief from Satan’s fiery. Needless to say, it’s left me frustrated with not an answer in sight. So I thought.

My question led me to Luke 4:1-13. In this chapter, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness for forty days. There Satan tempted Him with everything possible, hoping that He would turn His back on God and give up. Satan seems to be relentless in His attacks on Jesus. So my question was again, why? Christ left His home in glory to put on the clothes of an earthly man. He was trying to be obedient to His Heavenly Father and do His will. So why was Satan coming against Him so hard? He wanted Jesus to give up. He wanted Jesus to decide that this road that God had Him on was just too hard. In the end, he wanted Jesus to turn His back on God and forget the real reason why He came.

I noticed several things that might help us during these times of trials and temptations. I saw that Satan came against Jesus when He was at His most vulnerable state. Remember, He had been fasting for forty days, which meant that He was weak both physically and probably mentally. But He wasn’t weak spiritually because He had been fasting AND praying. So although He was weak, He continued to keep His focus on God.

As I continued to read this passage, I realized it was much bigger than just that moment. Verse 14 states that Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. Do you see what I’m seeing? After going through the trial and all the temptations, He returned in the power of the Spirit. He was able to return in the power of the Spirit because He stood firm against the attacks. He stood firm by using the Word of God as His weapon. We can learn a lot from Jesus on how He handled Satan that day. The only way we can battle Satan with the Word is if we know the Word! The only way to know the Word is to be in it consistently. 

After thinking and meditating on this passage, I felt that there was something more significant to this story. Then I began to see the BIG picture, and my heart began to cry from the beauty of it all. Jesus had to go through this time to prepare Him for His true calling on this earth. If you notice, His ministry started after this wilderness experience. After this experience, Christ made His most significant impact for the Kingdom of God, and if Christ had given up during this time, He would have missed His calling, which was to save our lives!

I don’t know what you, on the other side of this screen, are going through. Your heart may be broke in a million pieces, or you may be struggling with a temptation that you can’t seem to shake no matter how hard you try. But can I encourage you today not to quit? Don’t give up! You already know the Healer and One that can make a way out of those temptations. So stay focused even through the hard and the messiness of these trials. There is something bigger than you coming! The impact that you will make for the Kingdom of God is so much more significant than what you can see at this moment. Stay grounded in God’s Word and stand firm because your victory is near!