Day 21: The Spirit in the Wilderness
THE STORY OF JESUS
Luke 4:1-15
By Chris Marlin
By Chris Marlin
“Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit” (Luke 4:14).
Jesus’ ministry was done “in the power of the Spirit.” Yes, He was the Son of God. But He also took on flesh and subjected himself to human weakness and limitation (Phil 2:6-8). He acted “in the power of the Spirit.” We often attribute Jesus’ miracles and wisdom to His divinity, but this tells us that His human body was filled with the Spirit — the same Spirit that can fill us.
Jesus returned with that power. Where did He return from? The wilderness. Everyone wants Luke 4:14. Very few would choose verses 1 through 13 though. It was in the wilderness that Jesus was tempted, ridiculed, questioned, and physically exhausted. It was from there that He returned in the power of the Spirit. How? Because He partnered with God in the midst of the wilderness.
The wilderness carries a two-part blessing: 1) That the Spirit of comfort empowers you in the wilderness (Rom. 8:26), and 2) That we can be filled with more of the Spirit when we return from the wilderness (Rom. 5:3-5). The wilderness is hard. No one would choose it. Yet it chooses all of us at various times and seasons. The one choice we do have is how we partner with God in the wilderness. My friend Rich says hard things can either make us “bitter or better.” It really is our choice.
When I was in college, my crush chose another guy over me. I know, hard to believe. My heart was crushed. And I responded poorly. I made under-handed comments about him to her, talked badly about her to others, and generally became cynical everywhere else. I came out of that wilderness looking less like Jesus and with no more of the Spirit than I started.
Contrast that to a big part of my adult story: our journey through infertility, a much bigger wilderness than some college relationship. The stakes were higher and it lasted much longer. Sixty painful months of being let down, and our hopes feeling more and more hopeless.
And yet…
As hard as it was, I wouldn’t take that part out of my story. I know Jesus more because of that wilderness. And I carry more of His Spirit because I partnered with Him in that time. Two wildernesses and two very different results.
Take a moment to reflect on your wilderness season. Are you partnering with God in it, or are you doing anything you can to get out of it quickly? Do you want to leave with more of Him, or stay the same?
We all have had a wilderness, and we all will have another. The unconditional promise in it is that He’s with us. What is conditional is how we return from it. With more of Him or not. Bitter or better?
PRAY:
Lord, we thank you for the wilderness. For the opportunities to be empowered by you and know you more. Selfishly, we ask for protection and avoidance from the wilderness. But we also ask for those seasons to not be wasted. Let us partner with you in them and return with more of you from them. Amen.
Jesus’ ministry was done “in the power of the Spirit.” Yes, He was the Son of God. But He also took on flesh and subjected himself to human weakness and limitation (Phil 2:6-8). He acted “in the power of the Spirit.” We often attribute Jesus’ miracles and wisdom to His divinity, but this tells us that His human body was filled with the Spirit — the same Spirit that can fill us.
Jesus returned with that power. Where did He return from? The wilderness. Everyone wants Luke 4:14. Very few would choose verses 1 through 13 though. It was in the wilderness that Jesus was tempted, ridiculed, questioned, and physically exhausted. It was from there that He returned in the power of the Spirit. How? Because He partnered with God in the midst of the wilderness.
The wilderness carries a two-part blessing: 1) That the Spirit of comfort empowers you in the wilderness (Rom. 8:26), and 2) That we can be filled with more of the Spirit when we return from the wilderness (Rom. 5:3-5). The wilderness is hard. No one would choose it. Yet it chooses all of us at various times and seasons. The one choice we do have is how we partner with God in the wilderness. My friend Rich says hard things can either make us “bitter or better.” It really is our choice.
When I was in college, my crush chose another guy over me. I know, hard to believe. My heart was crushed. And I responded poorly. I made under-handed comments about him to her, talked badly about her to others, and generally became cynical everywhere else. I came out of that wilderness looking less like Jesus and with no more of the Spirit than I started.
Contrast that to a big part of my adult story: our journey through infertility, a much bigger wilderness than some college relationship. The stakes were higher and it lasted much longer. Sixty painful months of being let down, and our hopes feeling more and more hopeless.
And yet…
As hard as it was, I wouldn’t take that part out of my story. I know Jesus more because of that wilderness. And I carry more of His Spirit because I partnered with Him in that time. Two wildernesses and two very different results.
Take a moment to reflect on your wilderness season. Are you partnering with God in it, or are you doing anything you can to get out of it quickly? Do you want to leave with more of Him, or stay the same?
We all have had a wilderness, and we all will have another. The unconditional promise in it is that He’s with us. What is conditional is how we return from it. With more of Him or not. Bitter or better?
PRAY:
Lord, we thank you for the wilderness. For the opportunities to be empowered by you and know you more. Selfishly, we ask for protection and avoidance from the wilderness. But we also ask for those seasons to not be wasted. Let us partner with you in them and return with more of you from them. Amen.
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