Aug 1, 2025

Part 2: LISTENING TO GOD

I am often drawn to the water’s edge seeking God’s presence when I find myself in a wilderness season. In the past several weeks, in a season of wilderness, & in an effort to quiet the noise around us & to hear God’s leading, my husband & I went to the lake where we have often turned to God’s leading. We often experience God’s Holy presence as we immerse ourselves in the refreshing water.  I refer to water as my Holy place for it is there that I feel closest to God. As we swam in the cool water every day, where we often find peace, we spent our time in quiet prayer, asking God for direction & guidance.  I prayed as I always do, for God to lay a Holy Scripture on my heart that I might learn from, live into & that I might be able to share with you folks & others.

God is always present & so He answered my heart by laying on my heart the scripture from the Gospel of Luke chapter 3:21-23 & 4:1-15. These texts teach us of Jesus’ experience in the wilderness & the choices He made in the forty days in a state of sacred pause, listening for God & fasting so His full attention could be on God.  The lesson begins In Luke 3:21-22 saying: “Now, when all the people were baptized & when Jesus also had been baptized & was praying, the heaven was opened & the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove & a voice came from heaven saying; ‘You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased’.” Then from Luke 4:1-15 we read that: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan & was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness where for forty days He was tempted by the devil challenging how the newly anointed Son of God, Jesus, would exercise His new authority”. I want to just pause here for a moment to mention how interesting it was that it was the Holy Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness. These temptations would be tempting for most, but as we read on, we see that Jesus countered each of the temptations the devil set before him with Holy Scripture listening to God’s purpose for His life versus the devil’s.

We read that for forty days Jesus fasted, eating nothing & when they were over He was famished. It was then that the devil began to tempt Jesus, at the time when He was most vulnerable, testing Jesus to choose to step away from God & to follow the devil. Evil does come to tempt us at times when we are most vulnerable & weak. In this text we read that the devil repeatedly tempted Jesus & each time Jesus chose to listen to God through Holy Scripture rather than to give into the temptation. We read that the devil said to Jesus: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus clearly was famished yet He rejected the temptation & answered the devil saying: “It is written One does not live by bread alone.” In the second temptation, the devil led Him up & showed Him in an instant, all the kingdoms of the world saying to Jesus: “To you I will give their glory & all this authority, for it has been given over to me & I give it to anyone I please. If then you will worship me, it will all be yours.” And again Jesus rejected the temptation & countered with the scripture saying: “It is written: “Worship the Lord your God & serve only Him”. In His time of sacred pause & fasting Jesus had listened to God & continued to reject the temptation & chose to stand on God’s Holy words. After the final temptation, Jesus responded once again by rejecting the devil's words saying: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test”. We read that at that point when the devil had finished every test he departed from Jesus until an opportune time.” We read then that it was at that point, filled with the power of the Sprit that Jesus stepped out of the wilderness season & began His ministry for the Lord. He had chosen to follow God’s direction based on the Holy Scripture as He stepped forward to begin His ministry.
 
Jesus stepping out of the wilderness with  all its temptations reminds us that in many ways serving our living Lord is our choice to make. We can accept temptations to turn away, we can give in, give up, step away from God, or we can choose in faith to draw our strength from our Holy Living God our Creator & in faith, follow His word & His way for us. In the book of Joshua 24:15, faced with a choice, Joshua challenged the Israelite to make a decision about who they would serve; the God of their ancestors or the gods of the Amorites or the Lord. He then boldly proclaimed: “As for me & my house, we will serve the Lord.” setting a personal example for the people. Unless we are lost in the wilderness, distracted & unable to hear Gods voice, I think all of us would say the same things Joshua did: “As for our House we will serve the Lord.”. The beliefs we embrace affect the actions we live out. The questions for all of us as we move through the doubt, fear, sadness, etc. of the wilderness seasons we all will encounter from time to time is: “Who will we serve?  Who will inform our choices? Who will we follow?”. When we listen to the Lord in our wilderness seasons, regardless of the situation, may we each be faithful enough to always turn to our living Lord as we seek our way. For it is in Him where all healing, wholeness & answers come. When you feel the darkness of the wilderness, God calls us to turn our eyes, ears, mind & heart to Jesus, for it is in Him that all healing & wholeness comes. AMEN.

~Posted by Rev Kathryn Bindig, MDiv. MS; Pastoral Care Minister with assistance from Rich Muscatello; Director of Business Development & Strategy