The Desert

At once the Spirit sent Him out into the desert, and He was in the desert forty days, being tempted by satan. He was with the wild animals and the angels attended him. Mark 1:12-13

I am not a great fan of the desert. I know some people can see in the desert the exquisite beauty of the landscape in the bold sunrises and sunsets and vegetation and wildlife unique to a parched terrain. I see cloying heat, choking dust and scorpions hitchiking on my socks. I stay as far away from the desert as I possibly can. As much as I dislike the desert, I know I have been there spiritually for quite a long while. I also know that the spiritual desert experience does not have to be the result or consequences of sin because He Who knew no sin was sent into the desert by the Spirit Himself. There is something to be learned in the deserts of our life that we cannot learn while all is well and good and all is comfort and rest. The Bible would have definatley noted the fact if Jesus had gone there and had a really great time; instead other Gospels tell us He was hungry, it goes without saying that he was probably thirsty, dirty, too cold or too hot, smelly and lonely at some time or another in the forty days He spent there. He was also tempted when He was physically at His weakest. We see it in hindsight in the Bible; we know what happens, we know the end of the story but at the point when it happened, it was so terrible that angels had to attend him. Maybe, then instead of looking at our desert experiences as a punishment from God and going through our laundry list of possible sins, or listening to other believers when they tell us it is because of sin we are there without consulting or listening to God on the matter, maybe we can look at our deserts in a more positive way; this time ushered in Jesus's magnificant ministry on earth, the beginning of His Calling and Destiny. That ministry that would eventually turn the entire world upside down. We will not experience that same ministry because  we are not the Christ, but when we walk out of that desert, that endless wilderness, we, too may be walking into God's Destiny for us.