God Doesn't Care if You Get Ice Cream
Where Are You Empty and Tempted to Take Control?
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
Where are you empty and tempted to take control in your life? This is the place where you can resonate with the temptation of Jesus in today’s Gospel.
Today, we hear the devil tempting Jesus with food where he is empty with hunger, and with control as he speaks of the magnificent kingdoms that Jesus can have if He gives in to worship Satan.
If you’re like me, you have a vision of what you want in life and maybe some of those things haven’t come to fruition or maybe you’re worried they will never come to fruition. Maybe the absence of that “kingdom” of your life is where you feel empty during this Lent, and where you are most vulnerable to the Enemy slipping in and tempting you.
You’re tempted to fill that emptiness and take control of the situation, maybe in ways that aren’t God’s ways.
Notice what Jesus does when He’s tempted. He chooses the emptiness. Yes, He actually chooses it. He doesn’t give in to taking control. He could have all the Kingdoms of the world, but He knows that His Father’s Kingdom is what counts most.
He resists three temptations with the strength God gives Him in His weakness, and He uses the power of Scripture to make the Enemy flee.
We are all tempted where we are empty of something and/or desiring something in this world very strongly. We all also have the power and strength that comes from God to resist giving in to what is not of God to get them, like Jesus did.
And we know the end of the story...we know Jesus' way prevails. Jesus eventually gets to eat again and rises from the dead. He is our ultimate Redeemer and Savior of the world.
About the Author
Katie Zalany lives in Cleveland Ohio. She is a Third Order Secular Franciscan (OFS), spiritual director, benefits/wellness leader, and certified health and life coach. She volunteers with St. Vincent de Paul Society serving the poor, is an active mentor to many individuals, and a prolific writer. Her writing interests and focus areas include spiritual development, reflections on the Gospel life, Franciscian spirituality, prayer, and integration of faith and work/daily living. She is the published author of Called to Corporate: Lessons of Growing in Faith and Holiness from the Corporate Cubicle.
