Why ask why?

DDG, Unit 20, Session 2, Day 4 – Mark 1:12-13

            “Why?” may actually be a very important question to ask when we face times of difficulty, but it may also be intensely difficult to answer.  If you find yourself in a bad spot because of something you did, you need to address that. Nothing in our walk with Jesus in designed to protect us from the consequences of our own actions. Sometimes life just happens. This is not to suggest that God doesn’t care or is caught unaware, but we are not exempt from the normal ebb and flow of life either. Sometimes, bad things happen. We get sick. Accidents happen. Economies rise and fall. Pandemics happen. And sometimes the path to God’s best for us leads us into unpleasant places. Once we are certain that we have not caused our own problem, I think the question of “why” becomes not so easy or important to answer.

            All three of the synoptic Gospels tell us of Jesus trip into the wilderness. As we consider all three of them, we learn that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the Evil One. Jesus did not go alone. The Holy Spirit led Him. Mark tells us He was ministered to by angels. But make no mistake. Jesus was tempted. Three times He was presented with things He either needed or desired. But He would not seek to short-circuit the Father’s plan. He would have all those things, but He would have them the Father’s way, in the Father’s time, according to the Father’s plan. To God be the glory.

            I hope you have already considered the Daily devotional in your Student Guide. We are on page 77 today, if you are in my study. I leave you with today’s question:

“How does it make you feel to know that God might lead you into a trial?”


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