MAX ON LIFE

49. My brother has been in a slump for weeks. He lost his job and, it seems, his motivation. What's going on?

The Bible talks about wilderness times. Your brother may be facing one. Jesus did.

Jesus was "in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil" (Luke 4:1-2). Jesus spent a month and ten days slugging it out with Satan. The wilderness is a long, lonely winter.

Doctor after doctor. Resume after resume. Diaper after diaper. Zoloft after Zoloft. Heartache after heartache. The calendar is stuck in February, and you're stuck in South Dakota, and you can't even remember what spring smells like.

In the wilderness you think the unthinkable. Jesus did. Wild possibilities crossed his mind. Teaming up with Satan? Opting to be a dictator and not a Savior? Torching Earth and starting over on Pluto? We don't know what he thought. We just know this: he was tempted. And "one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust" (James 1:14). Temptation carries you and entices you. What was unimaginable prior to the wilderness becomes possible in it. A tough marriage can make a good man look twice at the wrong woman. Extended sickness makes even the stoutest soul consider suicide. Stress makes the smokiest nightclub smell sweet. In the wilderness you think the unthinkable.

For that reason, the wilderness is the maternity ward for addictions. Binge eating, budget-busting gambling, excessive drinking, pornography - all short term solutions to deep-seated problems. Typically they have no appeal, but in the wilderness you give thought to the unthinkable.

Urge your brother to rely on Scripture. Doubt doubts before doubting beliefs. Jesus told Satan, "MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD" (Matt 4:4). The verb proceeds is literally "pouring out". Its tense suggest that God is constantly and aggressively communicating with the world through his Word. Wow! God is speaking still!

Your brother's time in the desert will pass. Jesus' did. "The devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him" (v. 11).

By: Max Lucado