The Wilderness Part 6

Luke 4:14-15

“14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.  15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.”

Jesus emerged from the wilderness focused and on fire with the Spirit. The suffering and pain he experienced in the wilderness was used by God to strengthen Him.

In our lives, the wilderness is a time of suffering and pain.  It can be a time when we lose sight of what’s important; a time when we feel lost and alone (Jesus, being human as well as divine, may have felt all of these things, as well).

The wilderness of suffering and pain can also be a time that God uses to change and strengthen us, a time that God uses to draw us closer to him.   We may not understand this until we look back on the experience years later.

It is then that we will see our wilderness was filled with God’s love.

“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom;” (Isaiah 35:1)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)