Lesson 21 – When the Spirit Drives

Mark 1:12-13

Immediately, the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.

I love to drive, and the faster the better, so living Germany for many years has brought much joy! But, what I don't like is to be driven to action when I'm not interested in doing what someone else wants of me. Of course, all of us want to be in control. We want to determine where we'll go, what we'll do when we get there, and when we'll leave. But when you've been touched by the Spirit, that's not the way things are to be. Someone else is in the driver's seat.

Jesus certainly didn't rise from be the day of his baptism with the intention of going hungry for forty days in the Judean wilderness. No man would, and Jesus was just as much a part of humanity as we are. Neither did Jesus come up from the Jordan and decide to wander about in the isolation and heat of desolate countryside. I even doubt he looked forward to confronting Satan face to face during a time of great weakness. You see, it was the Spirit who drove Christ to do these things, and it is still this same Spirit that moves in ways you and I can never fully understand.

Notice some of the things missing from Mark's text. It's striking that we see no account of Christ trying to leave the desert early. We also see no indication Jesus spent any time arguing over God's will, nor any struggle to make things better than God had determined they would be. There is no story of the Lord growing angry with God or seeping into a state of despondency. Those are all the things we would have done. In fact, anytime we're not in the driver's seat of life, we find ourselves kicking against God. But for Jesus, we see him obeying the Spirit's touch, journeying into the desert, going as God led him.

O that you and I would be so obedient as God drives us throughout life! While the going might not be as easy as we had hoped for, you can bet it will be more satisfying.

LORD JESUS

Give me the grace to let go of life's steering wheel and let you do the driving. You know the way for me to travel, and I now place my trust in your direction. Amen.