Over the next five weeks of Lent, I’m going to dive into some of the scriptures of Jesus’ life and ministry specifically reflecting on His relationship to the Father. This week’s focus is all about the lessons of solitude in the wilderness. Now, I know, Ash Wednesday was almost a week ago, so I’m a little slow to start, but that’s okay because this is a journey that requires a much slower pace.
Lent, for me, has always been marked with some kind of fast. It was a big deal in the liturgical church I attended as a kid. I remember how on the night before Ash Wednesday, the entire church family gathered together for a huge pancake supper, which was filled with laugher and fun. We gorged ourselves and savored the last delightful tastes of sugar because, for most, the next 40 days meant abstaining from anything that brought pleasure.
Until last night, that was a great memory for me, capturing the togetherness of a church body leaning into something more with the Lord. But in the remembering, I saw something I had never caught before. There’s a deep-seated doubt that lurks in the dark hidden places of the soul, that’s desperate and afraid to trust. On the eve of a holy observance, it lies its way to the surface, justifying one last wretched display of self-indulgence, convincing us that we are entitled to one last taste.
One last taste is a lie straight from the pit of Hell and it will continue to hold us down if we don’t trust and believe the Lord. The good news is that there is, indeed, more.
So, how about it? Are you feeling up for a contemplative journey?
Before Jesus’ solitude in the wilderness
Jesus was born to bring salvation. The prophets prophesied his birth, his life, and even his death. So, let’s just stop right there and give thanks to God, for His goodness.
God knew before He spoke the world into being that we would need a savior and so He established a people who would testify and point the way back. We have a written record that gives us a detailed map. How awesome is that?
Yet, you and I both know how easy it is to get lost on the map, right? We can know the truth and still make choices that lead us to lies. I know, that certainly doesn’t sound encouraging, but that is the reality of what fear and doubt look like. We are all prone to it, but that’s not the end of the story!
The Good News is that we are not obligated to entertain the sinful nature (Romans 8:12). Jesus put fear and doubt to death on the cross, which set us free once and for all to experience life with the Father. Freedom is a choice and that’s the work we do in our salvation, not to earn it, but to believe God for it.
Jesus came from heaven to earth, so He could physically save us and lead us, but the only way to make that work was to become like us. It’s hard to imagine what that must have been like, choosing to be subject to human frailty. Life was not easier for Jesus because of His divinity. While He walked this earth He chose the same conditions you and I are subject to. Jesus always chose the Father, and that’s why He is the best one to lead.
Solitude in the Wilderness
In Matthew 4:1-11, we find the scripture passage that tells us about Jesus’ experience of solitude in the wilderness. This passage is also known as the temptation of Jesus, where the enemy meets Him in the desert with promises built of lies and distorted truths.
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.” Matthew 4:1-2
Let’s just stop and linger right there.
Jesus knew His assignment and understood what was at stake. And though He had led a life pursuing the heart of the Father, He was getting ready to launch into an epic battle. His time of solitude in the wilderness wasn’t random and it wasn’t meant to be a time of renewal, it was all about running the final exercises, testing for readiness.
Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the enemy. If that doesn’t sound like a setup, I don’t know what is, but the fact of the matter is Jesus’ life of preparation and connection to the Father had instilled truth, habits, and practices that formed a healthy root system. God knew that Jesus had access to everything He needed to make it through.
God was present, but this invitation into the solitude was about helping bring those truths into a deeper level of knowing. Some things can only be known through the experience of obedience. While Jesus had access to everything He would need to stand against the Devil, until He stepped into obedience, it would just be theoretical.
Lesson #1: Trust always looks like surrender
The first lesson of Jesus’ time of solitude in the wilderness is that trust always looks like surrender. Before Jesus even took a step toward the desert, He had spent his life pursuing the Father. He trusted God and surrendered to His purposes and will. And God saw it and delighted in it.
In His humanity, Jesus repeatedly chose to trust the Father, knowing that all the head knowledge in the world couldn’t help Him as God could. Now, I’m not saying that head knowledge isn’t helpful, it’s just limited. God is supernatural and so is His battle.
Just as Jesus chose to trust God and surrender to the process, so must we, because the assignment before us is going to require weapons that are only accessible through the Father.
Trust takes practice and its never once and done. We need to develop the habit of trusting God, even when it doesn’t feel necessary. The more we practice trust, the easier it is to access truth, because trust leads to surrender, which opens the way for intimacy and truth.
Surrender positions us to both see and acknowledge the greatness of God in all of His Glory, but it’s only possible when we cut down the idol of self-sufficiency. Humility feels like weakness, but it is a plug-in to the infinite source of power.
And so, before Jesus even comes face to face with the enemy, He demonstrates a powerful principle of what trust and surrender look like. Dwelling with the Father begins with trust and surrender—this is the conduit connection we need to remain in Him.
Lesson #2: Believing results in obedience
The second lesson of Jesus’ time of solitude in the wilderness is that believing God always results in obedience. Surrender may lay it all down, but obedience is what it looks like in action.
Let’s backtrack a little and check out Jesus’ baptism because I believe it gives us a little more insight into the story.
“After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” Matthew 3:16-17
Here’s what we know about Jesus. He was firmly planted in His identity as God’s Son and He was confident of God’s affirmation. Jesus carried Himself with authority and there was an undeniable anointing that marked Him everywhere He went.
He could have just told the Father, “Hey, I’ve got this. I know you love me and have my back, so let’s get this done.” But He didn’t. Instead, Jesus followed the Spirit into the wilderness so He could be tested. 40 days in the wilderness, without food or water is no walk in the park. He voluntarily subjected Himself to a place of utter dependence, so that the Father could take Him deeper still.
Lesson #3: You can’t lead where you’ve never been before
The third lesson of Jesus’ time of solitude in the wilderness is that you can’t lead where you’ve never been before.
Jesus was Son of God, but He was also flesh and blood. He could have accessed His divine power, but that wouldn’t have accomplished God’s purpose. Jesus had to walk to the cross as a man, not as God.
When Jesus followed the Spirit into the wilderness it was an intentional choice to learn the way into places of intimacy He had yet to experience. He was preparing for an epic battle that would require a strength that could only come from the deep wells of worship. That place of self-denial and surrendered self-sufficiency created a profound sacrificial offering so attractive to the Father that He came and dwelt in that place of intimate worship.
God loves it when we exalt His name with our mouths, but when we do it with our lives through the sacrifice of pride, His glory is revealed. You see, our worship isn’t just our words, it’s everything.
The utter dependency of God opens the way for increased vision and revelation of His Glory. Surrender and obedience don’t just happen because we want them too, we have to learn how to hold that position.
40 days of isolation in the wilderness without food was a long time to endure the kind of assault brought upon Jesus, but He trusted God. Submitting to the hard process, produced a deeper intimacy. Jesus did that so, You and I could follow Him. When we pursue the invitation of the Father to go deeper, it means we must trust Him in the process. This is a good lesson, that reminds us to keep pressing in because there is still more of God.
How to Embrace Solitude in the Wilderness
Isolation and testing don’t sound fun at all and frankly, there is no way to paint it any different. But, God is good and He’s right in the middle of it, even when you can’t see. We can embrace the challenge of a difficult process as we remember to keep our eyes fixed on the LORD.
When we look to Jesus, there are two powerful disciplines to practice in the solitude in the wilderness. The first one is the discipline of fasting. Denying His body of food, forced utter dependence on the Father. Every hunger pang turned His attention back to where it needed to be. We build faith muscles when we subject ourselves to an environment that demands belief.
The second discipline is practicing the promises of God. Jesus knew the word of God well because He had made it a practice to meet with God through the scriptures even as a child. The book of Luke records a trip Jesus’ family took to Jerusalem for the Passover festival when he was twelve years old. When the festival was over, unbeknownst to His parents, Jesus, stayed behind.
“Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions.” Luke 2:46
Jesus demonstrates, for us, the value of the discipline of knowing the truth in the core of our being. When we know what is true, we are able to discern what is not. When the enemy came against Jesus with temptations based on distortions and lies, He knew what was true. That’s half the battle.
Going a little Deeper…
And so, that brings us to the end of the first leg of the journey. Like I said, over the next five weeks we’re going to explore the life and ministry of Jesus. Lent is the perfect time to reflect on how He points us back to the Father.
I’ve got some journal prompts and questions to help press into the things we’ve reflected on today and I look forward to meeting you back here next week as we continue along the way.
- What am I afraid to trust God with?
- How can I surrender it and what does obedience look like in that?
- What does it look like to pursue deeper intimacy with God?
- Am I willing to give myself to the discipline of fasting and prayer?
- How can I practice the promises of God?
I hope you enjoyed this, and if want so more, I’ve got a weekly devotional called The Grace Notes. Sign up and stay connected!
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