Week 3 | Wilderness: From Temptation to Deliverance

Jesus had heard the voice of the Father at His baptism, and now in the wilderness a different voice was speaking. 

For Jesus, this testing of His connection with the Father was met with being in His gaze: He surrendered to His Father’s plan for Him (“You are My Son”), sat in His love (“the beloved”), and saw the Father’s provision for Him (“in whom I delight”). Scripture companioned each part of Jesus’ response: worship God alone; do not put God’s (love) to the test; and man shall not live by bread alone. 

What helped Jesus in these times? The contemplative practice of discernment. He was able to abide in the gaze of God because He discerned the voice of the enemy and let go of that which wasn’t true. This would not have been easy. Jesus had been alone and had not eaten for forty days.

The Scriptures invite fasting for a variety of reasons: grieving, mourning over our sin, seeking God and His guidance, and preparation. Moses fasted for forty days before receiving the Law (Exodus 34:28), as did Elijah before encountering God at Horeb (1 Kings 19:8). And so, in preparation for His public ministry, Jesus also fasts. 

After Jesus fasted for forty days, He would have certainly had significant physical weakness and discomfort. And many people report a mental and emotional clarity that comes with fasting. Undoubtedly, Jesus’ fast prepared Him for the discernment needed to encounter what He did in the wilderness.

Jesus’ discernment was rooted in Scripture and fueled by fasting. Not eating during that time was a physical, bodily fast; so too, there was a fast of sorts in the landscape and situation. The desert itself was a release of comfort, and the silence and solitude offered there was a release of the noise of the world. Thomas Merton explains: “The Desert Fathers believed that the wilderness had been created supremely valuable in the eyes of God precisely because it had no value to men … It offered them nothing. There was nothing to attract them. There was nothing to exploit.”

As we dwell in a wilderness place (whether of our choosing or not) where we are offered nothing of value, we are stripped of our ordinary resources and left open to God. This aids in our discernment because the noise of the world and voice of the enemy can get mixed up with our legitimate needs. Satan’s temptations to Jesus were all rooted in real needs: the need to be secure, the need to be seen, and the need to be safe. 

When the enemy offers us solutions to our needs, it can sound like a logical way to approach things. It would make sense that we use our resources and strengths to turn stones to bread if we are hungry, but discernment helps us see that this is not living in God’s gaze. With discernment, we are able to distinguish other voices from the voice of the One who calls us by name.

As we encounter temptation, we are invited to slow down into a spacious place in which to listen and be attentive. In a world where we like things fast and even value having other people tell us what to do and how to do it, discernment requires a personal, full-bodied participation.

In the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8-11), God led Adam and Even into discernment when He asked three questions:

• “Where are you?”
• “Who told you that you were naked?”
• “Have you eaten of the tree?” 

These three questions form a beautiful framework for discernment. When we find ourselves pondering a situation, we start with asking: Where am I? We consider the state of our soul, our body, and our mind. Second, we ask: Who is talking to me? We examine the source of the thoughts or voices coming our way. Third, we ask: What will satisfy me? God asked, “have you eaten from the tree?” to invite an examination of how they had sought to meet their own needs.

Even more basic is to ask this question: Am I experiencing the love of the Father right now? Do I sense the nearness and presence of God?

When we ask these questions (which may often take some time to answer), we can experience freedom because we either stay in the gaze of God or step back in. We return to the voice of love. And so, when we practice discernment, the wilderness becomes a place of deliverance and redirection. Additionally, as we encounter any longings, can we redirect them to God? And as we stay with that longing, we come to know that all our longings are met in Him.

Consider a current difficulty, temptation, or confusion. Ask these questions of discernment.

Prayer: Father, lead me not into temptation, but may the wilderness be a place of my deliverance to live in Your gaze as I listen to Your voice of love. Amen.