“Trust”
SCRIPTURE
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tested by the devil. —Luke 4:1-2
DEVOTIONAL
When Jesus came out of the waters of the Jordan, the voice of God ordained his ministry, “You are my Son, the Beloved” (Luke 3:22). With his hair still wet from the baptism, Jesus was launched into the wilderness to be tempted to forget that identity, or at least to define it by his own terms. For 40 days, Jesus moved deeper into his humanity: the hungers, the insecurities, even the despair. Far past the time when most of us would have broken, the devil showed up and turned the screws. “If you are the Son of God…” (Luke 4:3). Will he decide to be a magician, turning stones to bread? Will he become a larger-than-life stunt man, protecting himself from a great fall? Will he wrap himself in wealth and power, lording it over 99% of the world? In each of these traps was the same bait: the temptation to be anything but human.
This is how Luke explains what it means to be fully human; remaining dependent more than self-sufficient, humble more than powerful, vulnerable more than protected. In short, to be nothing more than who we are and to trust God to take care of the rest.
It is hard to imagine the “devil” with red tights, horns and a pitchfork because the temptations we face are much more subtle: the gentle whispers of our ego that tell us that “we” are better, more deserving, or more faithful than “them.” It’s our sinking sense of worth that assures us that what we do for a living is the source of our life; the fear that tells us that vulnerability is a weakness. The demon within and without is woven so deeply into our humanity that it takes Jesus (in his full divinity) to show us what it means to be fully human. Lent is the opportunity to not only pay attention to those powers but to risk being fully human; to listen, to hear, and to trust that we are beloved, protected, provided for, and accepted.
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- While we may have different ideas about the “devil,” those voices are real. Where do you encounter those voices that tempt you from being fully human?
- How can we learn to trust God? Is this a gift or something on which we work?
- What does it take to resist the voices that tell us to be something we are not, to take off the masks we hide behind, and to trust in God to take care of the rest?
“Give me the courage to stand the pain to get the grace.” —Flannery O’Connor
PRAYER
Lord, give us the courage to listen, to hear, and to trust that we are beloved, protected, provided for, and accepted. Amen.
The daily devotionals for the season of Lent are written by Rev. Dr. Kirk Hall, Associate Pastor of Formation at First Presbyterian Church from 2010-2013. He is currently a founding partner at The Metis Project, LLC. and lives with his wife and two girls in Salisbury, Connecticut.