Opportune Time

At the end of Jesus time in the desert where he fasted for 40 days and was tempted by the devil it ended with this verse Luke 4:13 “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.” I have written in the margins in the past, what was a more opportune time he was waiting for?

Right now this is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He has been waiting 30 years for this time to come. He has been in the shadows as a carpenter. Watching people that are hurt, sick, lost and couldn’t really do anything about it. Even still he knew that his time would come where he could heal the sick, feed the lost, and change the world literally! Those 30 years of waiting couldn’t have been easy and for him to decide to fast in the desert for 40 days to be prayed up for the next three years of ministry was a serious step. And after that time his was ready to GO! That is why I keep thinking that even though we know that Jesus is perfect and doesn’t sin. I still feel like scripture is right in stating that the devil had to find a better time to tempt Jesus. 

Growing up as a missionary kid, I got to see many pastors and missionaries so thrilled about their upcoming ministry. When a family has everything prepared to go overseas, but all they are waiting for is their visas to the country.  Or a pastor is waiting for a final go ahead to plant that church or let them dream come true. They get antsy. As soon as they hear the word “green light” WHOA it is full steam ahead for both. When we are fired up about our ministry and our calling it is easy to say NO to satan. When we feel like we have a green light for the vision, temptation and discouragement seem like crumbles that we trample on. There is nothing holding us back. These times aren’t the opportune times to discourage us or tempt us. Just like Jesus he was at the beginning of his long awaited ministry. 

Now in the Garden of Gethsename, this is close to Jesus’ lowest moments in ministry. After all this time with his disciples they were sleeping and not keeping watch. One of his disciples is going to betray him soon and another one is going to deny him three times. This seems to be a better time for the devil to tempt him and hit him when he is down. Jesus knows the cross is ahead of him he even pleads with his father to take it from him if possible. Still it is know that he needs to take this path. After all Jesus had done for the Jews the last 3 years they were going to turn on him and sacrifice him up. This has to be one of Jesus’ lowest moments right after the garden. I could imagine that satan would think this would be the better time to throw all those questions again at Jesus that he did in the desert. 

Isn’t that the same for us. We don’t get discourage or tempted when we are on the high hill. It usually happens when we hit a wall or an obstacle in our journey and we are at our lowest. The devil just wants to kick us where it hurts and when we are down already. That is his opportune moment in our lives. When everything seems to be going our way why would satan tempt us, but it is when we feel like God has left us or maybe vision or dream doesn’t seem to turn out exactly as we had planned. We need to be on our guard at all times, but definitely need to watch out for the extra kicks that we get when we are already down and frustrated. The devil just wants you to question about where God is during the pain, but it is THROUGH the PAIN God always SHINES through. It is hard to see it when we feel so alone. Even when we feel like no one understands what we are going through always remember Jesus does. He was the loneliest man by the time he was on the Cross. His father had forsaken him, his disciples had left him, and his people had turned on him. It would seem to me that Jesus was dying for ungrateful people and almost seem pointless, but He did it anyway! And because of his sacrifice the world can be saved! And the story doesn’t end there, Jesus ROSE from the grave! There will always be a turn around. We don’t always know when, but we know that God has won the war. Remember that!! If you are in a battle today for your health, your marriage, your family, your dreams don’t forget who has WON the war…JESUS! 

Myrtle Trees

In Zechariah 1:7-17 the prophet had a vision of a man on a red horse in the middle of myrtle trees. At first looked it seemed simple enough, but the word myrtle stood out to me. I did a little research on myrtle trees. These myrtle trees are specific to the middle east area. They are large thick bushes that many would use as a barrier around a building. They usually stand from 8 to 12 feet tall. Great for a warrior to hide behind during war, even if they were on a horse. They bloom white flowers in the middle of spring and early summer. Their berries are purplish in color and almost similar to blackberries. Because of where they live they are very tolerant to drought. They are also deer resistant and they can be grown in soil made of chalk, clay, or sand. These shrubs are extremely a low maintenance plant. They are disease free and pest free. Their leaves are glossy and aromatic. Many of the cultures around there use the leaves for seasoning meat by wrapping the meat with the leaves. 

Even with all these very interesting facts about this plant the one thing fact that caught my attention was the when the plant is crushed it releases a pleasant fragrance. How awesome to think that while the bush is standing there and useful for protecting soldiers, surviving the elements, the most important trait is to be crushed so that a beautiful fragrance can be released.

It is easy be overtaken by the storm you are in the middle of right now. It does not matter whose fault it is for the situation you are in right now. Look at Job nothing that happened to him was his fault and even his best friends blamed him for angering God as a way to explain what was happening to him. The idea is that no matter what you are going through right now, whether a horrible diagnosis, chronic health issues, financial struggles, or relationship conflict, these may seem to be crushing you, but there is hope. While you feel like you are being crushed on every side, you are releasing a beautiful aroma. You can easily be the strongest person that has survived so many storms, spiritual drought, to attacks from others, but each of those times you have felt you have been crushed you have let off a sweet fragrance for the world to smell. 

The next time you feel crushed remind yourself that the fragrance you give off is attracting others to Jesus. You are showing others that no matter what has crushed you that God’s aroma can spread through the pain. Joseph said this to his brothers after they apologized for selling him into slavery, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” Genesis 50:20

As I kept looking into the word myrtle I found another interesting fact. Queen Esther’s name means myrtle. How AWESOME! What a prime example of someone that was crushed under another kingdom away from her homeland. She may have been crushed by her situation but her fragrance gave her favor to meet the King of Babylon and then become his wife. She once again was crushed by Haman’s plans to kill their people, but she didn’t stop her from stepping forward to try to save her people. She was resilient, she grew beautifully even in a culture that wasn’t conducive to serving a heavenly God. Her name definitely lived up to the meaning of it.

Even if you are thinking right now that you could never be an Esther, that isn’t the reason I told that story. Remember we each have our own situation that we are face with. It is like a gigantic wall that we cannot climb or over take, but just like the walls of Jericho that seemed impassable. The Israelites marched around those walls and sang praises to God. We can still do the same. Circle our wall with prayers and praises as many times a day we need to. And no matter when that wall actually comes down remember that your fragrance during the crushing times will attract others to Jesus.