Read today’s texts first: Matthew 1-4
In the desert seasons, when all we think we hear is the Temptor, God’s voice is still speaking to us.
John the Baptist was the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3: “a voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord” (3:3). While it may only be coincidence, the next chapter describes Jesus in the desert, which happened to be the launching point for His public ministry. The experience of His prolonged fast in the wilderness was a spiritual discipline that helped prepare the way through the extreme challenges awaiting Him in the next 3 ½ years.
It was during those 40 days and the ensuing temptation that Jesus remembered His source (“every Word that comes from the mouth of God”), His identity (“don’t tempt the Lord your God”), and the only strategy to dethrone the god of this world (“worship the Lord your God and serve Him only”). We may think that the only voice He heard in the desert was that of Satan, but there was another voice that He was hearing. He was still hearing His Father saying “this is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased.” He also listened to the voice of the Spirit Who led Him into the wilderness. And, of course, He recalled the written voice of God in resisting the tempter.
It was the convergence of these experiences and His obedience to the process that prepared Him for His destiny. On the basis of what He heard in the wilderness, He chose His disciples, prepared them for leadership, and wrested the keys of hell and death from the grasp of Satan.
“Lord, when I face my own wilderness experience and think that the only voice I hear is that of my enemy, help me tune in to what you have said in the past, what Your Word says to me now, and what You are preparing me for in the future. May I respond as Jesus did with obedience to the process so I too can move forward unhindered toward my destiny.”
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