I was reminded this morning in the Gospels, that Jesus’ ministry didn’t start with miracles, signs, and wonders. His ministry began in a wilderness. In fact, Mark 1:12 says, “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” He was the Son of God with all power in His hands, so if anyone could have gone around that difficult and challenging place, it could have been Jesus. But instead, He chose to show us one of the most significant examples of ministry we could ever learn. The wilderness is a desolate, uninhabited, solitary place. No one would ever choose or want to go there. One of the things I see in this is that the wilderness would be His personal battle, everything else in His ministry would be for others. However, He knew He couldn’t help others if He didn’t first take care of some things in His own life. One thing to remember is that Jesus was already anointed when He went in. I believe the Spirit led Him to it, but that anointing brought Him through it.
No matter how talented, how passionate, or ready you think you are; no ministry gets to bypass the wilderness. Oh, you might think you’ve figured out a way to get around it, but I can promise you, the Spirit will lead you back to it. Even though you feel passionate about helping others; there are some personal things you’ll need to conquer before you reach out to them. It’s dark, cold, and lonely, but you’re not there because you want to be; you’re there because you need to be. You’ll never be able to handle the multitudes if you can’t conquer the wilderness. The ups and downs, success and setbacks, will break you unless you’ve been to the wilderness.
The scripture doesn’t give us a lot of details about what all Jesus faced when He was in the wilderness. We basically see Him go in, have a conversation with satan, then He was out. We do know that when He came out, nothing could stop Him from doing what He was called and sent to do. Every one of us is different; I don’t know what you’ll have to deal with when you go into the wilderness. But I do know this; if you are victorious there, when you come out, nothing will be able to stop you from what God has called you to do. So whether you’re about to go in, or you’re already there; the same Spirit that led you in will lead you out. God brought you to it, now let your anointing bring you through it.
