J.A. Matteson
Our deepest transformational encounters with Christ are always accompanied by intense personal discomfort, be it emotional, physical or spiritual. "Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out...." (Mk. 1:12). Our setting changes abruptly or subtly, circumstances become hostile to our communion with Christ, foreign, we have not been this way before. Inwardly we sense the overpowering nudge of the Spirit driving us out, away from the familiar and comfortable, away from the emotional company of others to a solitary place, away from our dependence on self and into the everlasting arms of divine grace. And most surprising to us is this inner compulsion to go out often takes place in the ordinary confines of our daily experience. It is in that setting, in that venue, Satan comes to tempt us as we depend on Christ to deliver us from evil. We are surrounded by familiar faces and things, those near and dear are unaware that inwardly we are in a desert place, a war is raging between the flesh and the Spirit, having been impelled to go out, to be purified by the Spirit through our triumph over satanic temptation. And no one on earth can comprehend the fire through which you walk, adding to its solitary experience. Conferring with flesh and blood is not advised or profitable, Jesus Christ bids you to confer with Him; He is your counselor, your wisdom, your comfort, your strength, your friend. The time will come when the test ends; grace has made you wiser, stronger, the fruit of the spirit more abundant. The gladness of your heart is filled to overflowing. You have been alone with Jesus in a desert place and prevailed by His hand, overcoming the devil, to the praise of His glorious name.
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