So, I was reading in Luke 4, about when Jesus was tempted in the desert for 40 days. Of course we know he was fasting at this time as well. Though I do practice the discipline of fasting (less often than I should), I really can't imagine a food fast for 40 days! Holy Cow! Than, on top of that, being 'taunted' by the Devil as well? I'm typically tempted to be short and abrupt with others when I'm fasting, wondering what's wrong with everyone else (when really, it's all me). I can't imagine working through 40 days of prayer and fasting, all the while carrying on a conversation with the Devil where he is constantly taunting me!
Here's what got me though - Verse 14, after the whole temptation saga was over for now (as verse 13 says the devil "left him until an opportune time"), the Bible says, "Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit…"
That's the crazy thing about the power of God. You go through one of the fiercest spiritual battles of your life, and perhaps you end up emotionally, maybe even physically, beaten up. Not so spiritually, because spiritually, there is a new fierce "power of the Spirit" that is at work within you. You are spiritually farther down the road having faced the battle. Times of struggle are not meant to take us out, but to strengthen us. If we run from God after the battle, we're shooting ourselves in the foot. Spiritual battles are meant to empower us further...to beef us up spiritually and build our faith!
Don't know what you are facing, but let me encourage you that it's not for nothing! Like Jesus, God's plan is that coming out of this battle, you experience even more of the "power of the Spirit" in your life…in your marriage…in your family…in your job…in your witness! Now that is good stuff…
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