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Into The Wilderness
FASTINGLOVE
Sarah Perez
7/2/2025
This afternoon I was in the car with all my children and my oldest son requested the song 'House of God' by Mercy Culture Worship. As we were listened, I was thoughtfully worshiping. Thinking about the ladder in Jacob's dream. How it represents Christ, that he is the bridge and the angels ascending and descending.
Then the Holy Spirit reminded me of my recent reading in Mark 1. I love how Mark writes, he gets quickly to the point, but also chooses words with such heavy meaning.
"The Spirit immediately drove him into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him."
Mark 1: 12-13
These three sentences across two verses hold so much meaning. I began to think about how he would have been feeling. Physically, I know what an extended fast feels like. Aside from simply feeling like every cell is crying out in hunger, you feel tired, empty, sometimes almost hopeless. But those are all fleshly feelings. In your soul, your thoughts and emotions are magnified. In your spirit, you are deeply aware.
But the Holy Spirit pointed out to me the scene of Christ surrounded by ministering angels. Those angels were not strangers, they were known to and by him. He likely called them by name! "Oh, Michael, glad to see you friend..." I know what a gift it is to be surrounded by brothers and sisters in your despair.
Later as I wrote this in my journal, He whispered 'Job'. I saw the revelation of it being a redeemed image of Job surrounded by his "friends" who were not good council. But here, Jesus was surrounded by good and wise council.
He also pointed out to me that this is also available to us. That relying on the Father means being on the receiving end of his good council!
Then he pulled me deeper into how Jesus would have been feeling. From his point of view, Satan - even though he is our adversary - is a created being. His own creation turned against him, which first must feel like such a deep betrayal, but also Jesus can see the brokenness of Satan's heart.
I can only imagine that Satan's heart is the very picture of such deeply painful rejection, having no path back to the Father; that it has been turned to aggressively bitter anger, hatred and jealousy that we are able to regain a relationship with the Father.
Which if you aren't feeling it yet, is another of the endless tales of his love for us. That a third of the angels of heaven were banished with no path back for their prideful sin. Yet he had mercy on us in our sin, even when we did not yet know him!
He is a good, good Father.
"Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us."
Psalms 62:8
Be blessed brothers and sisters, the King is alive!
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