I remember being taught that the safest place to be was smack dab in the center of God’s will. I understand the sentiment, but I don’t think the wilderness is every the safest place. But it’s a necessary place. Just as Mrs. Beaver said of Aslan, “he isn’t safe but he is good.” Yeah, obedience to the Spirit probably isn’t the safest but it’s the goodest (sic).
It’s also worth noting that the Spirit never abandoned Jesus while in the desert. “Angles were ministering to him” is what Mark says. He wants us to know that Jesus—though thrust into the darkness by the Spirit—was not abandoned by the Spirit. In the same way the Spirit will always go with us into these darkest places where we are following the footsteps of Jesus.
The Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness so that Christ could drive the wild out of the wilderness. He is redeeming all the broken things. That means us. He makes all things new—not by coercion but through suffering. He crushes the head of the serpent (dashes him to pieces) through a bloody cross and not a bloody sword. It is the Suffering Servant who rules the nations.
This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.
