Jesus is Tempted

   4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 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.’”

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
    and him only shall you serve.’”

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

   
   I've always thought of this story with the mindset of 'Jesus went into the desert to fast and Satan showed up.' But what the Bible actually says is, 'Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted.' This really struck me as my iron sister read it aloud, the verse makes it seem like the point of Jesus going to wilderness wasn't to fast but to be tempted. Weird! But, when you think a lot about it, it makes sense. 
   As God's followers we are called into certain situations we know will be hard, situations where we know we will be tempted. These situations seem like they are solely to be helping others but could being tempted be the point of a calling into "our wilderness?"
   I know that God chooses each one of us for a certain job in His plan. When we go on mission trips, we often get more than we are giving but we still think the point is helping others. One of God's points is probably to help us. When we are tempted we grow. Jesus was a great example of how the only way to resist and grow is with God.  When we are tempted and forced to rely on Him, we become stronger. 
   So, if you are ever stuck in a hard spot and get mad at God because following Him was how you got there, remember that the point depends on perspective and from His perspective, the reason for it all may be your growth!