Private Battles, Public Victories (Luke 4)
Read Luke 4
Three of the four gospels give us a very personal story of Jesus’ encounter with the Tempter in the Wilderness. Isn’t it telling? Just as Jesus begins his public ministry he has a very private encounter with the Enemy.
It is as if, before he is prepared to do public battle with the forces of Evil in the world, he must first have a private wrestling match with the Evil One.
It’s true in life, isn’t it? Most public failures are the result of private failures first.
The affair which ultimately destroys a marriage is generally only the final battle in a long war which began in private long before: an extended lunch, a discreet re-arranging of schedules, a too-tender touch, an inappropriate heart-to-heart conversation, an internal “I give up” to the problems at home. Or a similar story with regard to ethics, or … you get the idea.
The opposite is true, as well. Public victories are not won in a moment, but are forged in the faithful habits of a lifetime. Practicing private disciplines such as submission and surrender, scripture study and selfless service in the day-to-day moments of life, little by little, forms us into the kind of people who can do the right thing when it really matters.
We are quick to praise or condemn public victories and failures. We all want to be heroes when the pressure is on, the score is tied, or the chips are down. But if we want to win in these big moments, we must pay attention to the private battles we face every day.
Jesus’ encounter in the wilderness is a sober reminder of this principle. For it was only after privately staring down Satan in the wilderness that he publicly stared down the demons in Capernaum, or — perhaps even more remarkable – the expectations of his hometown folk in Nazareth.
We are quick to admire the marvelous power he displayed before demons, illnesses and expectations, but we must not forget that immediately afterward, he spent the night in prayer in “a desolate place” (42). Solitude and prayer were an essential part of the rhythm of Jesus’ life.
It takes great maturity to cultivate the private disciplines of spiritual formation, and to win the personal battles when no one is watching. But these are the battles which turn us into the kind of people who come through when the stakes are the highest. It certainly was true for Jesus. No doubt, it’s true for us, too.
“Lord, give me strength to obey you in the private places in my life, so that I can be strong for you in the public places, too.”
The opposite is true, as well. Public victories are not won in a moment, but are forged in the faithful habits of a lifetime. Practicing private disciplines such as submission and surrender, scripture study and selfless service in the day-to-day moments of life, little by little, forms us into the kind of people who can do the right thing when it really matters.
We are quick to praise or condemn public victories and failures. We all want to be heroes when the pressure is on, the score is tied, or the chips are down. But if we want to win in these big moments, we must pay attention to the private battles we face every day.
Jesus’ encounter in the wilderness is a sober reminder of this principle. For it was only after privately staring down Satan in the wilderness that he publicly stared down the demons in Capernaum, or — perhaps even more remarkable – the expectations of his hometown folk in Nazareth.
We are quick to admire the marvelous power he displayed before demons, illnesses and expectations, but we must not forget that immediately afterward, he spent the night in prayer in “a desolate place” (42). Solitude and prayer were an essential part of the rhythm of Jesus’ life.
It takes great maturity to cultivate the private disciplines of spiritual formation, and to win the personal battles when no one is watching. But these are the battles which turn us into the kind of people who come through when the stakes are the highest. It certainly was true for Jesus. No doubt, it’s true for us, too.
“Lord, give me strength to obey you in the private places in my life, so that I can be strong for you in the public places, too.”