When The Holy Spirit Leads To Terror
Think of the scariest place you have ever been. I've been a couple places that I didn't feel safe, but can't pretend that I've ever experienced a truly harrowing place. Jesus, on the other hand....
In Luke 4, Jesus travels into the wilderness, quite alone. By the time He stepped out of the wilderness, he had not eaten for 40 days and had talked to Satan. I would say this would be the epitome of terrifying. I've been alone in pseudo-wilderness before, and that alone can be very disconcerting. That is nothing compared to being alone in true wilderness with the Devil at your side.
However, Jesus was never really alone...
In our study today, Spader directed me to emphasize a part of that story that I had yet to pay much attention to. It's in italics below...
Luke 4:1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into[a] the wilderness,...
Previous to this, I considered Jesus' journey in the wilderness to be a show of self discipline and strength, an example of how He could resist temptation after being starved for forty days and being tempted by Satan himself. That mindset painted a Jesus I could never get anywhere close to being like, as I am tempted and sin daily with a full refrigerator in my apt.
Jesus was in tune with the Holy Spirit His whole life. From a young boy, He was teaching in synagogues with authority that He could not possibly have at his age. This authority and wisdom was from the Holy Spirit. Spader directed us to read how Jesus traveled through Samaria, a place no Jew would have gone because of the Samaritans. Because He did, he met the famous woman at the well who convinced Him to stay for 2 more days. Many Samaritans heard and believed in Jesus because of that visit. Jesus must have been lead by the Holy Spirit into Samaria, and thus many Samaritans believed.
There, that's TWO places the Holy Spirit lead Jesus no one in their right mind would have gone. The end result of these two journeys, however, is the glorification of God. These stories are still being read and told, bringing glorification to Him even today. If there was a snapshot of what christians are called to do, it's just that.
For us, this means that being in step with the Spirit of God is not going to lead us to comfortable places. In fact, it might just lead us to the exact opposite. In order to be in touch with the Spirit, we have to be willing to drown out every seemingly wise voice inside of our head that instills fear or doubt. By these examples, we can know two things....
The Spirit will get us through the danger and give us strength and wisdom.
The glorification of our God is just on the other side of the fear.
Thanks for stopping by this great study today, let me know your thoughts in the comments! Stay tuned by subscribing! Thanks!