Hungry for God: Medicating our Maladies

“Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down, for it is written,

“He will command His angels concerning You,”
and
“On their hands they will bear You up,
lest You strike Your foot against a stone.”’”
—Matthew 4:5-6

When we’re fasting, Satan will come at us with all that he’s got, and with a weakened body many give in. Fasting brings out the worst in us, because we use food, drink, and other things to medicate our pain. Covering up our pain, we find enjoyment in our appetites, forgetting for a moment the difficult problems we are facing. Paul hinted at this when he wrote,

“What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’”—1 Corinthians 15:32.

Fasting brings out our pain, and forces us to deal with it, and many times it is extremely uncomfortable. One doesn’t feel very spiritual when fasting; on the contrary, one feels less spiritual. But we continue at it, knowing that by dealing with the problem situations of life head on, we are showing that it is God and only God who can solve them. Fasting, then, shows where our true dependence lies.

For Jesus, it was when He was hungry that the devil came to Him. He first tempted Him to make bread, which Jesus refused. But then He tempted Jesus to show Himself to be God. By casting Himself off the highest point of the Temple and having the angels come to help Him, He wouldn’t have been able to identify with us. We cannot do what He could have done. No angels were ever ordained to come and help us when we fall. So, Jesus responded in the only way He could that would preserve His purpose to identify with sinners like you and me—He quoted Scripture. He knew full well what Satan was doing. He knew He had the very right to do what Satan tempted Him to do, but He also knew that man did not. And for Him to do what Satan tempted would mean He would have forfeited His right to be the Savior for mankind. He had to identify with us, and He did. His words in response to Satan are also a lesson for us. Through Him, we are reminded that even when we want God to show Himself, even when we are feeling bad and frustrated, even then we are not to put God to the test. We must rest on His unchanging, infallible and all-sufficient Word. And when we rely on that, we will never go wrong.

What are you trying to cover up with food, drink, or entertainment? What does God want to do in your life? What sin does He want you to deal with? What struggle or situation does He want you to lay at His feet? Give it to Jesus; He is the only one in whom we have answers. Don’t try and test God; rest in His Word, knowing it is sufficient to guide us in our time of need. Amen.