This transition always amazes me -- Jesus has just been baptized, and as a celebration, he's immediately driven out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, where he eats nothing for 40 days. Not exactly the honeymoon we'd all want after such a celebration, right?
But God so often refines our hearts in the wilderness. God has work to do on us, to focus us on humility and faithfulness. We want the celebration, the mountaintop experiences, but God knows those often comes with distractions that pull us farther from God. God sometimes leads us into desolate places so that we better learn to depend on God alone. It isn't fun, and can be some of the hardest times of our lives, but God doesn't abandon us there, even in the midst of temptation. God is with us, nourishing us, encouraging us, whispering to the soul that we might grow into the people God wants us to be.
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