I hope you’ve had a meaningful week reflecting on your description of God and the God of your gut. This week we’re going to explore our identity—how it gets challenged and solidified by our wilderness excursions.

As we start, consider what is the most challenging situation you’re dealing with this week. Do you feel like the situation is affecting your identity? Is it strengthening you or undercutting your true-self at the moment?

ANCIENT STORYLINES

Once again, let’s look at Jesus’ stint in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11). Here’s how Jesus enters the wilderness: his soul is in perfect condition; his description of God is pristine; and his identity is unscathed. God has just declared “You are my beloved” and the Spirit has swooped down to affirm the Father’s words. Everything is perfect. And, yet.

The Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness. For forty days Jesus is exposed to the elements and absent of food. Then a third-party shows-up and a showdown begins. Satan comes to tempt Jesus; he comes to undermine his identity and disrupt his faith.

However, Satan’s brilliant attempts to sabotage Jesus are absconded by the Spirit who uses it to test—and ultimately reveal—Jesus’ true character (See Deuteronomy 8:2). Curiously enough, the Hebrew word “to tempt” is the same as “to test.”

The First Temptation (verse 3) was to turn bread to stones. Satan tempted Jesus to use his power for personal gain.

The Test (verse 4) was for Jesus to rely on God his Father rather than the material world to meet his deepest desires. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:6, which refers back to God providing manna for the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.

The Second Temptation (verses 5-6) was to jump from the highest point on the temple in Jerusalem and have angels come to Jesus’ rescue. Satan tempted Jesus to force God to perform a sign for the sake of personal promotion.

The Test (verse 7) was for Jesus to trust God’s timing and leading rather than others’ expectations of his ministry. Jesus cites Deuteronomy 6:16 in which the context refers to how the Israelites had tested God at Massah. They refused to accept that God was among them until he performed a sign for them (Exodus 17:7).

The Third Temptation (verses 8-9) was to bow down to Satan. This was a call for Jesus to acquire political power through expediency rather than spiritual power through suffering.

The Test (verse 10) was for Jesus to worship God and fulfill His mission, even if it meant death and separation for a time. Jesus cites Deuteronomy 6:13, revealing his true allegiance was to God and God alone. With that, Satan had no standing and stole away.

Satan was out to rob Jesus of his true identity. Satan challenged Jesus’ identity again and again by saying, “If you are the Son of God…” The Evil One constructed scenarios for Jesus to prove his identity on his own terms. Yet, Jesus knew he didn’t need external forces to validate his worth. His identity was inextricably tied to the love of his Father. That enabled Jesus to live out who he truly was, even in the face of potent temptation.

Satan also desired to demolish Jesus’ intimacy with the Father and Spirit. Jesus faced down Satan’s temptations with great courage and consistency of character because he was in relationship with his Father. He understood God’s Word not as simply information (even Satan had that), but rather as way of intimacy with his Father.

PROVISIONS FOR YOUR LENTEN JOURNEY FOR THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS

REFLECTION: Our true-identity and desire for intimacy with God gets challenged in overt and subversive ways regularly. We too live with a third-party. The same Evil One who hunted Jesus down is out to undermine us. When we don’t recognize that we live with an Opposition, our story—and the world’s story—gets quite confusing.

When you process through your challenging situations do consider the existence of Satan? How has—and how might—-the Evil One try to make you question your identity as a beloved son or daughter of God? Do you see themes of sabotage in your story? How might the Evil One try to distract you from intimacy with God?

While the Evil One works, the Spirit is all the more bent on solidifying our true identity and our intimacy with God.
Like Jesus, we don’t have to acquire our identity from anyone other than God. When do you feel most loved and accepted by God? When do you feel most like yourself?

We too can experience greater intimacy with God as we relate to him through his Word. Often it takes time for our relationship with God to develop as we read Scripture. Do you feel like you can relate to God through the Bible? What are passages that remind you of who God truly is and who you are in relationship to Him?

DISCUSSION: What events in your story have seemed to challenge and/or solidify your identity?

How does your true identity get hijacked by the Evil One?

How does your true self show up? How does the Holy Spirit encourage that? How do others around you bring that out?

Feel free to share this with us in specific or general terms at the DISCUSSION BOARD.

IMAGE OF GOD: While the Evil One wants to deaden our true selves, God loves for us to become more and more alive. Here are some pictures that make me feel alive. Drag out your own photos and notice which ones resonate with your deepest passions and truest self.

“The glory of God is man fully alive." Saint Irenaeus

CONFESSION: From an early age I’ve scrambled to gain my identity on my own terms. The curious thing is that I have great parents who have lavished love on me through the years. Nevertheless, perfectionism has haunted me and fear of failure has thwarted my true self.

In my teens I battled a dysfunctional relationship with food and in my late twenties I became a workaholic. So I wrecked my metabolism by counting each calorie because I didn’t want to be fat. And I stole sleep from my body in order to gain the affirmation of others at work. In recent years the pursuit of perfectionism has sabotaged my speaking. In efforts to get my words right, I’ve missed out on being present and speaking from my heart.

HOPE: I love that in God’s epic, the Evil One gets conquered and all is made right, made anew. And, I’m so grateful that God brings his epic into our own little storylines. He continues to do that for me. One way my identity got challenged, and ultimately solidified was on my trek from Rome to Jerusalem. I won’t go into in depth here, but during the trip I struggled feeling inadequate and my sense of equilibrium kept getting overturned by people’s generosity. My soul felt stripped by the time I got to Lebanon. Yet in Beirut I met this gentle priest, Father Nektarios, who without knowing my story reminded me that as a daughter of God all I need to do is receive God’s love. What God desires most is not what I try to do for Him, but what I’m willing to receive from Him. I, of course, still struggle with collecting my identity from what I do and what others think. But more and more I am open to living into God’s declaration of who I am.

SCRIPTURE: Read Psalm 139. What does it say about how God views you? What might it reveal about your true identity?

LENTEN ASHES FOR YOU: Here’s a story of a woman named Ashley. See how her struggle with perfectionism plays out and how she comes to know her true identity.

INVITE OTHERS INTO IT: Pray each day for God to give you sacred encounters. Meet for coffee or go on a walk with a friend this week to share how your identity gets challenged by the Evil One and how it gets shored up by God’s Spirit. Talk about how the Spirit might want to encourage you both right now in the area of your identity.