2 “You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.
Looking at these verses from Deuteronomy 8, and the accounts in Luke 4, and Matt. 4 of the temptation of Christ we discover another blessing that the Wilderness yields. In the wilderness we learn to live by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. In that place of battle we learn to live by faith. When there is nothing left that seems real, or dependable, those things that He has promised become your reality. We live by, and do battle with the promises of God. What God says is the substance we learn to cling to. Again, nothing else is real.
We also learn in the wilderness to love The Tempted. It is so easy to be impatient and intolerant with those who struggle or fall. In the Wilderness the battle is intense, and the temptations to give into the sins of unholy actions of escape, and compromise, and unholy attitudes, can be overwhelming. We suddenly discover the vulnerability of our own humanity, and as a result Jesus cultivates in us the virtue of Charity. We learn to love fallen and broken humanity. We become compassionate carriers of the love of Christ. In turn, we experience an extravagant increase in the anointing as Christ equips us to bring healing to those we now no longer judge, but instead now love. We will talk more about that tomorrow. Have a great day In Christ.