What a wonderful week! I am loving all the ways we can apply principles from these chapters to our lives. We all face things like doubt and temptation. We all need to be close to our Father in Heaven. The Savior is truly the perfect example of how to handle life's difficulties and Satan's cunning lies. Let's dive in.
Commune with God
Matthew 4:1-2 - Joseph Smith Translation added
1 Then Jesus was led up of the Spirit, into the wilderness, to be with God.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, and had communed with God, he was afterwards an hungered, and was left to be tempted of the devil.
When I hear the term "communed with God," my first thought is the temple. I don't think I'm alone in that. The Savior is our example in all things, so it isn't far-fetched to imagine He had experiences similar to the temple endowment and participated in temple ordinances (just as He did with baptism). But I don't want to speculate, so I'll leave that thought there. We know He spent time with God while in the wilderness and we can follow His example by spending time with God in holy places. Communing with God is a vital step in aligning our will with His (and even understanding His will in the first place).
I've found a few beautiful quotes about the temple and communing with God.
Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve:“In this house of God, we treasure the unseen. In this holy house, we continue to commune with God, make promises to God, and prepare ourselves to be better each time we leave.”Elder M. Russell Ballard:
“When men and women go to the temple, they are both endowed with the same power, which is priesthood power … All men and all women have access to this power for help in their lives. All who have made sacred covenants with the Lord and who honor those covenants are eligible to receive personal revelation, to be blessed by the ministering of angels, to commune with God, to receive the fulness of the gospel, and, ultimately, to become heirs alongside Jesus Christ of all our Father has.”"Temples - Empowered From On High" - 10 July 2022 News Release:
"In the temple, the intersection between heaven and earth, you’ll receive all those ordinances which are necessary for you, after you depart this life, to walk back to the presence of Father in Heaven. Here holy work will be performed through selfless service and love, in person and by proxy for those unable to do for themselves, linking families together for eternity. “The temple reminds me of all that is good and beautiful in the world” says David A. Bednar. Here you will make covenants, commune with God, seek God's aid, understand God's will, and receive personal revelation, light and knowledge. What shall we give in return for the flood of light, knowledge and truth God has poured out upon us? Do we appreciate what we have?"
"Why did Jesus go into the wilderness to commune with God? It is reasonable to believe that He did so to learn His Father’s will, so that there would be no doubt as to what God’s desires were for Him. Similarly, for us to learn God’s will for us is a cairn. If we do not know what God’s will is for us, we will wander into the cotton grass.
"We learn God’s will for us in the scriptures, from the words of living prophets, and through the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. But we need to desire to be with and commune with God in prayer, as Jesus did. Knowing our true relationship with God, that He is our Father and we are His children, makes prayer natural (see Matthew 7:7–11). Difficulties with prayer arise from forgetting this relationship."
For the record, the definition of the noun "commune" according to Google is "a group of people living together and sharing possessions and responsibilities." Not only does that speak to the law of consecration, but it also reminds us of our divine inheritance. When we are true children of God and act like it, we are eligible to be with Him, share the same kind of life, and receive all that He has. Communing with him leads us to exaltation.
I think the Savior's journey in the wilderness was very much a time of preparation. He had a powerful spiritual experience at His baptism and then spent time with His Father. He was ready to face the devil and did so with power. I wonder if fasting for so long also prepared Him to surrender His will while atoning for us. He could choose to live, but didn't, just as He could have chosen to feed Himself in the wilderness but resisted.
Fasting is Spiritual Exercise
When I leave the temple, I often feel spiritually hungry. It's hard to come back to the world. The temple gives us a foundation to better navigate the worldly parts of our mortal experience. A therapist once told me that when I was going through a difficult trial, I turned back to what I knew and the tools I had in order to cope - healthy tools that I knew worked for me. I leaned on the foundation I built many years ago of gospel study, faith, hope, the enabling power of the Savior's Atonement, etc. I realized I'd grown spiritually weak and I put in the effort to exercise.
I've learned that spiritual hunger is a healthy, important thing. When I don't feel it, I do my best to seek it out. I've heard that we should study the scriptures until we don't want to stop - until we've let go of all our distractions and really found joy in God's word. That's what spiritual hunger feels like to me. It's when I struggle to begin my study and then find myself immersed. Sometimes it takes a while, but it's an amazing feeling and it draws me close to God.
Fasting is important spiritual exercise that helps us feel spiritual hunger. When we fast, we choose to feed our spirits instead of our bodies. We resist the urges of our mortal body and have control over it. That's great practice for other times when we need to resist the natural man. There are a lot of appetites in mortality that can become out of balance (such as hunger, greed, and lust). Being able to control our reaction to those appetites is an important skill. I'm often coaching my toddler on self-restraint and learning to say no to herself when she wants to act out. Like her, we all need to build impulse control - both physically and spiritually.
We read the Book of Mormon together at breakfast. I like associating our need for physical nourishment with our need for spiritual nourishment. While studying these chapters, a new family tradition idea occurred to me and I hope we can implement it. On fasting days, I'd like to gather at our table at a regular meal time and feast on the scriptures together, possibly reading accounts of people fasting. We could have the same mealtime dynamics of discussing our lives and being together while enjoying a purely spiritual meal. If I wanted to be really dedicated, I could set the table and assign each plate a set of verses to read. Utensils could be assigned questions to ponder - tools to aid the feast. We could each write something we want to remove from our lives and scrape it off our plates like we would uneaten food. Sounds fun, right? Anyone want to try it with us?
The "If" Trap
Another mortal impulse that we should consider is doubt. The Savior was an expert at fighting doubt - even when the devil himself tried to instill Him with it. He never lost sight of His divinity and His mission. He always knew what was right and true.
Matthew 4:3-4
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
If is the word the devil used to tempt the Savior. If He was the son of God. We can fall into the "if" trap too. This reminds me of my favorite quote from Elder Holland:
With any major decision there are cautions and considerations to make, but once there has been illumination, beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now. Don’t give up when the pressure mounts. Certainly don’t give in to that being who is bent on the destruction of your happiness. Face your doubts. Master your fears. “Cast not away therefore your confidence.” Stay the course and see the beauty of life unfold for you.
It's a decision to follow the Savior and believe in His gospel. We are all counseled to receive our own witness that this is His church and that the scriptures are His words. Once we receive that witness, we need to hold on tight. When the Savior was baptized, He received confirmation that He was the Son of the Father. He knew exactly who He was and what His mission was. Still, the devil tried to plant the seed of doubt. Satan does the same thing to us when we have moments of illumination. Doubt is a ravenous wolf. We can't feed it or it will devour us whole. I'm not saying we should follow blindly. That's one of the things I love most about the gospel - that we are encouraged to know for ourselves. But once we do know, we can't feed doubt.
The Savior used scriptures to fight doubt and temptation. We can do the same. That will look different for all of us, so ponder how the scriptures can help you individually with the circumstances you face.
The Savior Had Boundaries
Luke 5:1-3
1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
I admit, when I read these verses, they reminded me so much of motherhood. It's not unusual for me to seek privacy and have a child follow me, demanding attention and love right now. Sometimes I feel "pressed upon" and wish for personal space so badly. The Savior knows how that feels. And you know what? In His perfectly charitable ways, He took space. He went onto a ship to teach and was therefore able to serve while also having boundaries.
He cared for everyone and also took time to be with His Father. He was perfect and still participated in some form of self-care. I don't know what His moments of prayer were like (if they were ever focused on His needs or purely His mission and the will of the Father) but He had moments. He took time. I'm so comforted and encouraged by that.
Luke 5:15-16
15 But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.
16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
If the Savior can withdraw from the world and pray, despite so many demands, so can I. The Savior was perfect ... and even He didn't do literally everything, all the time. He didn't heal every single person in the world. He couldn't physically teach everyone constantly. His boundaries and mortal limits didn't make Him any less perfect.
Luke 4:42
42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them.
43 And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.
We have so much pressure to be and do everything in this modern age, especially as Latter-day Saints. The idea of perfection is always looming. We've been taught to choose based on good, better, and best, but I know I still feel guilt when not doing all the good things. It's life-changing for me to realize that even Jesus didn't do every single good thing. I think He's responsible for every good thing in the eternal sense, of course, but as a mortal man ... sometimes He withdraw Himself and prayed.
Sometimes He left to preach to other cities. He wasn't everywhere at once. He made choices and focused on the best things - the things He was meant to do during His mortal ministry. He delegated to His apostles and now He delegates to us to be His hands in the world. He doesn't feel a need to physically do everything Himself. My, how much we can learn about leadership from Him.
Luke 6:12
12 And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
I don't think it was easy for Him to always take time for the Father - not with so many people wanting His attention. Sometimes He lost sleep in order to commune and align His will with the Father's. All of His sleep. He never lost sight of the best priorities.
I'm not saying that our Savior wasn't capable of doing anything and everything. I'm sure He could have controlled time in such a way that He could be with everyone. He is every good thing. But I love that in His mortal life, He had boundaries and priorities. That helps me breathe easier about the fact that I can't do literally everything I want to do, especially as a parent. It's just not possible. That's okay. As long as I focus on the Father and my covenants, just as Jesus did, every needful thing will be made possible. I'll let go of the rest.
Bonnie Gwyn
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