Desperation

Wilderness Day 5 Purposed Desolation

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Matthew 3:13-17
Matthew 4:1-11
Deuteronomy 6:13-16

Wilderness, Day 5

“Wilderness” is woven throughout the Bible.

Hagar’s desperation in the wilderness (Genesis 16:1-16)
Moses’ shepherding in the wilderness (Exodus 3)

Israel’s bitter complaining in wilderness wanderings (Exodus 14:11-14)
These are only a few examples.

Amazingly, God spoke of making a way in the wilderness. (Isaiah 43:20)

The wilderness isn’t a place of comfort, but is defined as a lonely, desolate place. I imagine wilderness as a place similar to the forested place I traveled with my mother as a child to cut firewood. Regardless of the landscape, wilderness is a place of lonely isolation.

Imagine Jesus taken by the Holy Spirit to that place of desolation. (Matthew 4:1-3) Imagine yourself there alone for 40 days and 40 nights without sustenance, and then the devil coming to tempt and taunt you. Some argue that because Jesus was God, He would have not felt tempted, physically weak, or lonely as we might, but Scripture reveals,

“For we do not have a great high priest [Jesus, the Son of God] who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

We know Jesus felt hungry (Matthew 4:2) and tired (John 4:6), because, though He was fully God, He was also fully man.

Jesus’ wilderness was purposeful, a time set aside to fast, pray, and be present with His Father as He prepared to begin His ministry. Directly before this, when He was baptized, the Father testified about Him, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)

In the wilderness, the devil tempted Jesus to use His power in ways inconsistent with His mission as God’s Beloved Son.

The devil took advantage of timing, approaching Jesus at the end of His 40 day fast, when He was hungry. Tempting Jesus to give in to the desires of His body, He urged Jesus to turn nearby stones to bread to satisfy His hunger. (Matthew 4:2-3)

But Jesus answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4, Deuteronomy 8:3)

Undaunted by his failure, the devil took Jesus to stand on the pinnacle of the temple in the holy city, asking Jesus to prove Himself as the Son of God. Misusing Scripture to qualify his claim, he asked Jesus to fall from the pinnacle, claiming angels would save Him. (Matthew 4:5-6)

But Jesus answered, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” (Matthew 4:7, Deuteronomy 6:16)

The devil still would not give up; he took Jesus to a high mountain and showed Him the kingdoms of the world and their glory, then asked Him to worship Satan, in order to gain ownership of said kingdoms and glory. (Matthew 4:8-9)

Again, Jesus resisted with Scripture, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” (Matthew 4:10, Deuteronomy 6:13)
Defeated, the devil departed from Jesus.

At times, we find ourselves in our own wildernesses. Even in daily life, we may feel alone in our wilderness, threatened physically, mentally, or spiritually.

In our world, sin and temptation constantly surround us.
Temptation may approach in the form of a threat or that of pleasure,
but always with the same goal: to lure us into sin.
The devil will either use our everyday needs to tempt us, or dreadful condition to submerge us in fear, belittling God’s power in our lives.

Anything shifting our gaze away from God can become our idol. Ordinary things may not appear sinful, but if we prioritize them above God, they become idols. Food is a normal need, but if we allow it to control us, it becomes an idol; likewise money, position, or any hunger of our heart. We are always tempted to pursue that which we think will satisfy our lusts, and the resulting idols always stand between us and God.

Sister, be encouraged; these idols are stripped of their power in Christ!
Through God’s Spirit, we have the capacity to overcome temptation!

The Scripture says God is faithful to sustain us through temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13), and He has given us His Word to fight against the devil’s schemes. Jesus depended on God’s Word during His wilderness time; likewise, our victory over temptation depends on His Word. Among the spiritual weapons apostle and preacher, Paul, lists in Ephesians 6:10-18, “the sword of the Spirit–which is the word of God” is the only offensive weapon mentioned.

Finally, when we find ourselves in the wilderness, let’s believe the desolation can be unto a purpose. Let’s immerse ourselves in His Word, meditating on it day and night, until it abides within us. Then, when we face temptation, let us follow the example set by Jesus and wield it effectively, unto victory!

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Fruitful Day 13 The Gentleness Of Jesus

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Mark 5:25-43
Matthew 11:28-30
John 13:12-17
Galatians 5:22-23

Fruitful, Day 13

The crowds were gathering, pressing relentlessly on all sides.
With His power to heal illness and drive away demons, word was spreading quickly. People from all walks of life, with all manner of brokenness, flocked in masses in pursuit of Jesus, the Christ.

In the midst of this particular crowd was a well-respected Jewish man, high-ranking with authority and political clout as a synagogue official, for he too was desperate. Jairus was familiar with Jesus’ growing fame and His divine ability, as he had likely witnessed Jesus healing a man’s hand in the synagogue in the weeks prior. (Luke 6:6-11) None could do what Jesus did. While Jairus was surely intrigued, he entered the crushing crowd that day out of pure desperation.

His daughter’s life hung in the balance.

It’s easy to step back and critically analyze. One can afford to be curious at a distance, but when it’s your desperation, nothing matters but the pursuit of wholeness.

Jesus immediately responded to Jairus’ urgent pleas to come to his house and slowly they moved in that direction.

Again, the crowds followed.

Can you imagine being Jairus? Desperation met reality as faces swam in front of both men. The mob was filled with shoving and jostling, loud noises, body odor, and incessant pressing of desperate bodies running rickshaw over one another as one little girl’s life hovered between life and death.

I’m not really comfortable with crowds like that, but if I wanted to be near Jesus, I am certain I would have set aside my discomfort to join the throng in pursuit of Christ that day.

Which is exactly what one woman did. Like Jairus, her desperation drove her into the tangled mass of people. She’d endured twelve long years of uterine bleeding, living as a shamed outcast from her community (Leviticus 15:25-27), taken advantage of by doctors who promised cures but worsened her condition. (Mark 5:26) Ironically, she, who had lived over a decade in isolation, was now driven by desperation into a crowd of hundreds with one goal in mind. Wholeness.

Twenty-nine years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Like this suffering woman, I’ve experienced isolation from friends and even family because of disease. People are uncomfortable with such ravaging illness and don’t know what to say, so they stay away. They fear “catching” cancer themselves, and in their attempt to self-protect, they left me alone. I imagine this woman and I had many common experiences. Fear. Shame. Abandonment. Loss. Grief. Add to those woes the fact that her condition was neither diagnosable nor curable, despite the costly search for answers, and her desperation becomes nearly palpable.

Unrelated to cancer, five years ago I experienced intestinal disorders that no test or exam could identify. I too was neither diagnosable nor curable, and after six months of constant appointments, pokes, and prods, I was exhausted. I can only imagine twelve years of such! I can hear her heart’s cry, “What could it hurt to find Jesus? I’ve tried everything else. I have nothing more to lose.”

Jairus, desperate for his little daughter’s life.
This woman, desperate for her own.

Both were met with a radical gift surpassing their expectations.
Gentleness.

I’m sure the woman planned to press through the crowds, likely on her knees, to touch just the hem of His garment and then slip away unnoticed. But at her touch, despite many hands pressed against Him, Jesus’ voice of authority pierced the cacophony, “Who touched my clothes?” (Mark 5:30)

My reaction would have been the same as the disciples’. “You see this crowd pressing in on you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” (Mark 5:31) Jesus knew the difference between the touch of physical nearness and the hope of desperate faith.

In His divinity, Jesus knew who had touched Him.
In His gentleness, He asked His question of invitation.

Tightness grips my chest as I think of her “being caught,” and then I relax, remembering Jesus’ gentleness has invited this woman to step out. I can envision His calm eyes searching the crowd for the woman’s face, fixing His gaze of compassionate love upon her. Scripture records the woman coming with “fear and trembling.” Aware of her healing, she came to Jesus, fell down before Him, and told the whole truth. (Mark 5:33)

Christ’s gentleness drew her to Himself, invited her to unpack the entirety of her brokenness, then responded by publicly calling her His own, “Daughter.” He made her whole.

Not just her body, but her soul.
“Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” (Mark 5:34)

Amid a stunned crowd, a messenger for Jairus arrives with the tragic news his daughter has died. In the span of time it took Jesus to call one woman out of brokenness and into wholeness, another’s life passed away.

Yet, the gentle Jesus turns unhurried, peace-filled eyes to meet Jairus’ red-rimmed ones, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.”  (Mark 5:36)

The nameless woman fades away into the crowd, no longer hiding nor walking with head bowed low. She dances in grace, for the gentleness of Jesus has called her His own, healing her body, heart, and soul.

As for Jairus’ daughter, the Gentle Christ takes her slim, cold hand in His as His divine voice awakens her from death to life. (Mark 5:41-42)

Our desperation, no matter how dire, is no match for the Gentle Christ.
So bring your exhaustion, your desperation, and your faith, and find wholeness in the gentle touch of our Savior.

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Reveal Day 2 Until He Appears: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
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The Questions

1) What should we do when we call out to the Lord, but He does not save? (verse 2)

2) Why would God tolerate wrongdoing? (verse 3)

3) How can justice come out perverted? (verse 4)

Habakkuk 1:1-4

1The pronouncement that the prophet Habakkuk saw. 2 How long, Lord, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save? 3 Why do you force me to look at injustice?  Why do you tolerate* wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.  4 This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.

Original Intent

1) What should we do when we call out to the Lord, but He does not save? (verse 2)
The prophet Habakkuk had a problem. Commentator J.M. Boice describes his scenario like this, “He had lived through a period of national revival followed by a period of spiritual decline.” Under King Josiah’s reign, the nation of Judah followed God, but under successive kings, the country fell into sin.  Distressed by the immorality and injustice all around him, Habakkuk called upon God to save His people. He implored, “How long, Lord, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save?” (Habakkuk 1:2) Habakkuk grew frustrated that His holy God was not stepping in to rescue the faithful from their broken situation. He wanted the Lord to swoop in and restore His people, but that was not God’s plan. When God told Habakkuk His plan included letting the Babylonians (or Chaldeans,) attack and conquer the nation as part of His judgment, Habakkuk was horrified (Habakkuk 1:6-12) This was not salvation! This would be the end of the world as he knew it. Habakkuk wondered, and pressed back, at God’s plan, so he went up into a watchtower to seek and wait on the Lord for a better answer. (Habakkuk 2:1) God patiently answered Habakkuk, explaining His plan and telling His prophet that the righteous will live by faith. (Habakkuk 2:4) Eventually, Habakkuk was reconciled to the fact that God is sovereign. As a result, Habakkuk was able to rejoice in God and the strength He gives (Habakkuk 3:18-19) For a long time, God seemed unwilling to save the nation of Judah, and when His plan finally came to Habakkuk, it seemed worse than the current situation, but the prophet pursued God and His ways. God granted him this clarity, not in full, but in part, along with peace about God’s design over Habakkuk’s. God welcomed Habakkuk’s questions as he struggled to understand God’s plan, and He encourages the same from us. God promises if we call to Him, pray to Him, and seek Him with all our heart, we will find Him. (Jeremiah 29:12-13)

2) Why would God tolerate wrongdoing? (verse 3)
The prophet Habakkuk is heartsick at the sin and injustice he sees all around him. He wonders why a just and holy God would put up with such wickedness. In Habakkuk 1:3 he asks, “Why do you force me to look at injustice?  Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.” When Habakkuk discovered God’s plan for dealing with Judah’s wickedness was to hand them over to the Babylonians, he was shocked and dismayed. (Habakkuk 1:12-13) Author R. C. Sproul explains, “Habakkuk couldn’t understand how God could use the evil Babylonians to chastise His people, when it seemed from a human perspective that the Lord’s purposes for Israel had failed and His faithful servants would not be vindicated. God responded that those He regards as righteous live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4).” God taught Habakkuk he could have faith in Him regardless of the situation.  Often, it seems like God is letting the bad guys get away with evil and it’s hard to accept that His plan isn’t to wipe them all out or bring them all down.  Sometimes, like in the days of Habakkuk, evil seems to go unchecked and God’s plan to deal with it seems slow and difficult to accept. We wonder, “Where is God?” or “When will He act?”  Author Ravi Zacharias assures us, “It is not that God has absconded or is absent; it is that there is a divine purpose behind His visibility or invisibility. If one can rightly read the clues, the mystery is opened up in profound ways. Just as evil can be understood only in the light of the ultimate purpose, so also must God’s presence or seeming absence be judged on the basis of His purpose.”  We can trust that God has a purpose for what He is doing and what He allows, even when we can’t envision it at the time.

3) How can justice come out perverted? (verse 4)
Habakkuk 1:4 reads from the prophet, “This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.” The prophet Habakkuk abhorred the fact that God’s laws were being ignored and His people were flagrantly sinning and injuring one another. He watched in despair as those in authority either did nothing or participated in the abuses. Author Jack Arnold explains, “In all of Judah, the Mosaic Law was of no effect. Literally, this says the law was “frozen” or “chilled.” Wickedness numbs the Word of God. Law was on the books, but it was not enforced. Law had no authority. Because of unrighteous judges, the Law was made ineffective.” There was no justice in the land, only a perverted version bearing no resemblance to the righteousness laid out by the laws of God. When Habakkuk asks God why He doesn’t intervene, the answer God gives brings even more distress because He plans to send the wicked Babylonians to conquer the disobedient people of Judah. (Habakkuk 1:6) God eventually helps Habakkuk see His punishment as just. As author Chuck Swindoll notes how the story of Habakkuk “reminds us that while God may seem silent and uninvolved in our world, He always has a plan to deal with evil and always works out justice . . . eventually. The example of the prophet Habakkuk encourages believers to wait on the Lord, expecting that He will indeed work out all things for our good (Romans 8:28).”  Even when it seems like everything around us is wicked and falling apart, God has a plan for true justice to be enacted. It may not be on the timetable we want or in the manner we prefer, but God will always bring about true justice.

Everyday Application

1) What should we do when we call out to the Lord, but He does not save? (verse 2)
My friend struggles daily with physical ailments. She stays strong for her family, but she grows desperate for relief from her pain. Remaining hopeful is hard when no end is in sight. She longs to know why God hasn’t yet answered her prayers for healing. We have all been in similar situations, desperate to break free from persistent struggles with no coming relief.  Habakkuk experienced this enigma as well. He continually called on God to save his wayward nation, but instead of the hoped-for rescue, God revealed a plan that would greatly devastate Judah. (Habakkuk 1:2-11) Habakkuk struggled to accept God’s decision and questioned His drastic plan. (Habakkuk 1:12-17) Author Jennifer Rothschild notes, “because God loved His prophet perfectly, He didn’t give His prophet the perfect answer that Habakkuk wanted to hear, He gave him something better. He lifted Habakkuk’s spirit and gave him perspective.” This truth can be hard to accept, as it was for Habakkuk. No one wants to go through hard things that will undoubtedly bring pain and will forever change us. Habakkuk knew God’s plan would mean hardship and suffering, but he also recognized God requires the righteous to live by faith. (Habakkuk 2:4) Habakkuk knew he could trust his life and his nation to God because of His faithful, unchanging character. Jesus had this same experience in the garden of Gethsemane as He prayed deeply before being turned over to His accusers. Matthew 26:38-39 tells us, “He said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.’  Going a little farther, he fell face down and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.’” How remarkable that Jesus Himself prayed for a resolution He wanted, but accepted the will of the Father instead! God cares about our situations and our desperation. We can trust He is in control even when He seems not to answer, or when He gives an answer that we don’t like. Though we may neither agree nor understand, we can always trust His perfect will and faithful character.

2) Why would God tolerate wrongdoing? (verse 3)
If God controls everything, why allow tragedy and sickness? Of course, even acknowledging there is evil supposes there is also good, and this is where God comes in! Author Ravi Zacharias points out, “Transcending value and justice must come from a Person of transcending worth and an ultimate law or value-giver. The only reason people have intrinsic worth is that they are the creation of One who is of ultimate worth and the perfect lawgiver. That person is God.” So, we only know about good because God is good.  But why does He allow evil in the world? Evil entered the world when Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God. (Romans 5:12) As a result, the world came under the sway of the evil one (I John 5:19, Luke 4:6) and humans became objects of attack from the devil (1 Peter 5:8). God’s plan to save fallen humanity from the eternal consequence of their sin was the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. This work of Christ on the cross destroyed the power of sin and death, thwarting Satan’s plans for those who trust and believe in the Name of Jesus. (Hebrews 2:14) However, we still live in a sinful world, which Satan still rules for now. He still wages war against us, tempting us to give in to sin. At the second coming of Christ, evil will be vanquished forever when Satan is bound and thrown into the abyss of Hell. (Revelation 20:1-3) Pastor Tony Evans  explains, “God is holy; He can’t skip over our sin. He can’t tolerate evil, and we are all evil because of our sins. So for us to be able to draw near to God, Jesus’ death on the cross had to take place.” God’s plan for us involved a loving relationship with Him in a world without evil. Though sin kept us from God, He lovingly provided a bridge between Himself and humankind, this is Christ Jesus! Though we live in a world where evil exists, we hold tight to the hope of a future with Jesus where evil is no more (Revelation 21:3-4)

3) How can justice come out perverted? (verse 4)
I was a substitute teacher before having a full-time teaching job. I learned a lot about classroom discipline in those few months! Kids tested how far they could push the rules. It was obvious which classes had no rules and were confident they would face no real consequences when the teacher returned. I soon arrived at every job assignment with a backup lesson and rules of my own, just in case. I’ve had days in the classroom (even under my own management), when I was nearly as dismayed and distressed as Habakkuk when he watched the laws of God being flouted and justice being perverted making it unfair and ineffective. (Habakkuk 1:4) I have felt frustrated with God when it appears He is doing nothing about injustice. (Habakkuk 1:1) I wondered how I was supposed to teach grammar to kids hungry from poverty or neglect, who were under house arrest for serious crimes, who suffered with addiction, were victims of abuse, or were pregnant and scared. Why would God let such bad things happen to these kids? Why didn’t He stop the evil? Author Margaret Manning writes, “In our world of unanswered questions or in the difficult places where the answers are not what we want to hear, we are called to rest in this wordless place beyond answers . . . we can rest in God’s faithfulness from ages past. The wordless place can be for us the place of trust, instead of fear.” When I took my worries about my students to the Lord, I realized He could be trusted with my burdens for them. In the waiting, I understood He had provided each child with teachers, counselors, and coaches who cared, including myself! Some of us were just doing our jobs well, but some of us were also trying to be the hands and feet of Jesus to our students. We could not proselytize, but we could pray for them and speak truth over them. We could provide respite from the cruelties of the world every day by extending Jesus’ comfort. God saw their distress, and he sent people to help them. He brought true justice through His people.

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1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

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Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

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