Whisper vs. Thunder

"…my soul gives credit to God alone, for God is the source of my anchored optimism." Psalm 35:9 BLT [Bud Lamb Translation] I often underestimate what Jesus faced in the wilderness of Luke chapter 4. Jesus experienced 40 days of starvation and dehydration before He faced off with satan. Certainly, Jesus is/was fully God - but/and fully human. His humanity must have crippled Him with a limp or crawl through those final days when the liar satan attempted to entice Him with an easy way out. I used to think Jesus rebuked satan with a thundering voice but I’ve changed my thinking. Emaciated with hunger and thirst, through parched lips, skin dry as a bone and His head baked to near hallucination I can imagine the best Jesus could do was a whisper. So too with my wilderness journey - every day my heart is assaulted with lies and offers of an easy way out. I would like to see myself as powerful in my faith, thunderous in my rebuke. The truth is I am weak, wavering in my faith, and the best I can do is whisper “I rebuke you in Jesus name! Jesus have mercy on me!” And with this whisper of a holy rebuke my soul gives credit to God alone, for God is the source of my anchored optimism. Grow an intimate moment-to-moment reliance and awareness that you are not alone, God is always near, He will help with just a whisper. --------------------------------------------------- Prayer Oh God, my help in time of need, help me not be surprised if later today the perfect storm presents itself. That I would be alert to lies and rebuke the enemy with a whisper calling out Jesus have mercy on me! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.