Day 34 – Save us from the time of trial

I am often tempted by the bread this world offers. Flip through a Best Buy ad and it sparks that internal lust for things that I cannot nor should have. It sparks the inequality and old Adam in me that yearns for a nice 42 inch decoration on my wall that comes with the power to captivate my hunger for more stuff. I may drive past Pladsens in Waukon and look on with intense hunger at the new cars that shimmer in the spring sunshine. The trouble with this kind of bread is that it leaves me hungering for even more. In likeness Jesus also was tempted by bread in the wilderness. Why then hunger for the things which will never satisfy? What about power? I am thankful to God for his ways of humbling me and reminding me of my place in this world. As a servant I am no greater than my master Jesus nor am I any greater than my neighbor. The allure of earthly greatness and power only follows certain downfalls. To the church leaders who have surcumed to the temptation of power they usually started off innocently enough being attracted to the attention greatness brings. The old saying rings true in this respect. Never forget where you have come from. Take away all the successes that God has granted me, leave out the degrees and accomplishments. What I am left with is the nakedness of being a child of God and a father, a husband, a friend, and a servant to the cause of the Gospel. Rabbi Harold Kuschner wrote a widely popular book examining human suffering and how one could grasp the concept of bad things happening to seemingly righteous people. Faced with a child who would never see past his teenage years they were faced with the reality of their very concept of faith being turned upside down. If you love me God why let suffering happen to me? Jesus was tempted by this as well in the wilderness. Our prayer must be that we would have the courage to entrust the unknown, the pain of suffering in the here and now, and all that we are to God.