Spiritual Battle

During Lent, Holy Week and Advent, our church uses the Revised Common Lectionary in worship. Sunday (2/28, the 2nd Sunday of Lent), we used the gospel reading from Luke, which was actually for the first Sunday of Lent (2/21). Okay so we were behind a week!

The reading was from Luke 4:1-13 about the temptation of Jesus by Satan in the wilderness following His baptism by John in the Jordan River. The first verse tells us that Jesus was "full of the Holy Spirit" and that the Spirit "led Him" to the desert/wilderness. Two observations we considered from that single verse:

• The Spirit of God sent Jesus ("God with skin on"- per Eugene Peterson) into the desert where Satan was waiting. Christ-followers tend to hold Satan responsible for every hardship or challenge (the desert moments) we experience. However, there are times when God sends Christ-followers to hard, or challenging places. These are opportunities (yes, even bad ones) to exercise our faith in God and lean solely on Him. Jesus trusted and relied soley on His heavenly father in the desert. His recorded responses to Satan's ongoing time of temptation reveal that He relied on God's Word instead of His own. Hello? Maybe it's time we relied more on God's Word when we are tempted than our all too flawed human intelligence. God's Word is full of stories about men and women who lost the temptation battle because they failed to stand on God's Word and rely solely on Him during a tough time. Samson, David, and Jacob come to mind but there are many more. Relying on our own ability, intelligence, (trying to "control" the situation), etc., instead of God's is simply disobedience. Jesus glorified His Father by obeying His Word and standing on them in every response to Satan (Deut. 6 and 8 are the foundational texts for his response to Satan). Lesson for me: Lean into the Word of God and let it speak to my life. Oh and by the way, I didn't say every hardship, or problem was from God either. Satan is definitely alive and well, but not every life challenge has his signature on it.

• Jesus took on Satan when He was "full of the Holy Spirit" not running on empty. If Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit when battling Satan, who are we to think we can do it on our own? All too often we try to battle Satan when we are spiritually unarmed. I'm a slow learner and many times as a Christ-follower I have engaged the enemy when I'm at a spiritual low. That's like trying to run a NASCAR race on tires from the previous race. It's just a matter of time before you are going to hit the wall and crash. Of course the enemy usually waits until we are tired, vulnerable and wary when He attacks us. However, we are by nature lazy and more often than not we are caught off guard. By faithful practice of the spiritual disciplines (e.g., reading God's word, devotions, fasting, regular prayer, worship, etc.) along with diet, exercise, rest, etc., we are in better shape to face the enemy. God has given us a spiritual nuclear arsenal which Paul describes in Ephesians 6. Read it and be prepared for battle.

The 40 days of Lent were rooted in this time of testing, trial and self-denial by our Lord. It was a time of preparation and increased devotion for Him. May it be for us as well!