Waiting on the Angels
Mathew 4:1-11
The scene is the wilderness. Jesus has been led there by the Spirit. Not by the devil, please note, but by the Spirit. This is a necessary experience for Jesus if he is to fulfill God's plan. He must face the Temptor, for temptation is very much a part of human existence. Each of us must spend time in the wilderness struggling with Satan.
After his famous expedition to the South Pole, Admiral Richard E. Byrd was riding on a train. A man came up to him and asked, "What did you miss the most down at the South Pole?
Byrd answered that they missed a lot of things. Some of them didn't mind missing, and others they did; some they were very glad to get away from.
He said he was discussing that very thing in the middle of the six months long Polar night with one of the Irishmen in the camp, Jack O'Brien. Byrd asked, "Jack, what are you missing most from civilization?" Jack answered without any hesitation, "Temptation."
Temptation is a very real part of life. Temptation to stray from the values we hold dear,. Temptation to take short cuts, to avoid struggle, to find the easy way through. We all have to deal with the Temptor. It may be, in fact, that temptation is essential to our spiritual development. We struggle with our passions, our human desires, and out of that struggle comes character.
In the stories of the Desert Fathers there is one concerning Abbott John the Dwarf. Abbot John prayed to the Lord that all passion be taken from him. His prayer was granted. He became impassable. In this condition he went to one of the elders and said:"You see before you a man who is completely at rest
and has no more temptations."
The elder surprised him, Instead of praising him the elder said:"Go and pray to the Lord to command some struggle to be stirred up in you, for the soul is matured only in battles."
Abbot John did this, and when the temptations started up again, he did not pray that the struggle be taken away from him. Instead he prayed, "Lord, give me the strength to get through the fight."
Questions to Ponder
Are you tempted often?
Have temptations helped you develop character?
What battles are you facing today?
Do you believe God will give you the strength to get through the fights?
In His Service,
Terry Phillips
