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Surrendering to hidden years enabled Jesus (and can enable us) to desire, above all, God’s company and not be distracted by life’s scenery.
Though the layers vary in focus, the methodology Satan uses in his attempt to trap Jesus follows a clear pattern. In each layer, he dangles a lure (by offering Jesus something attractive), he exploits a natural longing (by appealing to an innately human desire), he identifies the means (by suggesting how Jesus can get what he wants), and he sounds a tempting invitation (by mixing truth with his lies). Jesus’ strategy in resisting temptation also follows a pattern. In response to Satan’s snare, Jesus first anchors himself (by looking to God and his Word), and then he makes a definite choice
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Time is not really spent. Instead, it is invested in a future we cannot see.
Because the unseen has been carefully attended to, the visible can expand on a trustworthy foundation.
There in the poorly lit crawl spaces of life (transitions, prolonged waiting, new additions to the family, preparatory education, relocation, retirement, unexplainable loss, extended illness, irresolvable conflict, and all else that tends to hide us) God builds within us a sturdy support system for our souls.
He resisted rushing and took the time to live them well.
Would he obey Father God even when obedience required delayed satisfaction of legitimate needs?
Though temptation in the layer of appetite often appeals to our wants and passions, in this instance Satan addressed an actual physical need in Jesus’ life.
Then Satan identified, in a manner so concise that it was compelling, the means for how Jesus could obtain the lure and satisfy his natural longing.
rationalization reigns and history is revised when appetite rules.
In this layer of appetite, I believe that in his invitation Satan was tempting Jesus, not to prove himself, but to use his divinity to satisfy the needs of his humanity and avoid unnecessary pain.
Jesus did not allow the moments of his life to exist in isolation.
We disconnect the moment of temptation from all other moments and dismiss our inner hesitations as overreactions because, we rationalize, this is only about one moment of splurging or one brief glance or one white lie or one
temptings. In the place of temptation, Jesus threw out a hook of his own—an anchor that caught firmly in something immovable—the Word of God:
Why does Father God lead those he loves into deserts? To humble us, to test us, to know what is in our hearts, to see if we will keep his commands, to teach us to depend upon him, and to discipline us as his children.
God did not permit the people to produce
They were entirely dependent on him, and that helplessness tested them.
Being powerless revealed what was in their hearts: would they, or wou...
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He believed that living was initiated and sustained by God and therefore could not be measured by the physical senses alone.
When tempted in the layer of appetite, Jesus chose to reposition his cravings, desires, longings, and physical needs behind God’s unchanging truth.
By nature they are followers, and we place our souls in danger when we require them to take the lead.
God’s truth clears the fog in our minds, provides much-needed boundaries for our emotions, and empowers our wills to choose well.
When tempted in the layer of appetite, it may sincerely feel as though we will die if our cravings are not satisfied. Actually, something does die when we reposition our feelings behind God...
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we see the disastrous results of lives driven by appetite all around us.
When tempted in the layer of appetite, Jesus did not deny the existence of his natural longings and feelings.
One simply cannot quote what one does not know.
What grows in anonymous seasons? The anchor of God’s Word in our souls.
Hidden years provided the space for Jesus (and provide the space for us) to invest in Scripture meditation and memorization.
Consistency, not speed, is the key to this adventure.
Jesus’ spiritual resolve did not suddenly materialize the moment he stepped into the desert.
What grows in anonymous seasons? Self-control.
Paul lists self-control as a nonnegotiable quality of anyone placed in governing or mentoring roles2 and as a virtue the learning generation should seek.
perhaps no other space in life is more critical for the development of self-control than the hidden years of our teens, twenties, and thirties.
God graciously grants us the opportunity to wrestle with our appetites before other lives are at stake, to struggle with our passions privately before moral collapse affects the innocent publicly.
Temptation twists truth.
What grows in anonymous seasons? An accurate portrait of God.
Anchoring ourselves in God’s Word is close to impossible if, in our hearts, we are unsure that God and his Word are good. The waiting implicit in hidden years can compel us to wrestle with the character—and at times, even the existence—of God.
When our dreams are delayed and our potential seemingly forgotten, we may question wh...
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“Why not now?!” is a cry that brings to the forefront what we actually believe about God. His timing, especially during hidden years, can offend our sense of justice:
When our ways are not God’s ways—though it may be unspeakably uncomfortable—we must wrestle with the discrepancy between what we think God should do and what he actually does and allow that struggle to edit our tidy, but tame, image of God.
In the daily rhythm of anonymous seasons, it can become exceedingly difficult to remember that every choice we make today influences a tomorrow we cannot see.
The first thieving rationalization says, It is just until
Today always counts.
If we fail to deal with issues today, they will deal with us tomorrow.
The second thieving rationalization that causes us to underestimate temptation in the area of appetite during our hidden years says, It is better than . . .
we abdicate our responsibility to discipline our appetite by convincing ourselves that what we are doing is the “lesser of two evils.”
the question we need to ask ourselves is not, What is this better than? but, What is this feeding?
when we say yes to temptations of appetite, regardless of our reasoning, we are choosing to feed sin that Jesus died for.
Though the layers often overlap, our first spiritual challenges normally involve issues of appetite: our passions, emotions, cravings, and longings.
Soon after, we may wrestle with applause: our desire for approval, acceptance, attention, and acclaim.
