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Publication date Dec 29, 2024

In between trial and triumph

Publication date Dec 29, 2024

Do you know what day of the week it is today? Somewhere around Christmas, I usually lose track of what day it is because every day kinda feels like a weekend, right? 

I can imagine that Jesus may have lost track of the days, too, but for a different reason. He spent 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness, being tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1). It says in Matthew 4:2 that “After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.” Is it just me, or does that sound like the greatest understatement in the Bible? 😉 

Jesus must have been famished, lonely and beyond exhausted. But He knew that His greatest trial still lay ahead: His crucifixion.

Jesus prayed, “Father, if You are willing, take this cup (= the crucifixion) away from me; yet not my will, but Yours be done.” – Luke 22:42

I’m sure Jesus would’ve loved to just skip to the part where He was rewarded for His sacrifice, seated on the right hand of the Father, exalted to the highest place where every knee would bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11). 

friend, do you sometimes wish you could skip over the hard parts of life and fast forward to the happy outcomes?  

That is precisely the kind of temptation the devil presented to Jesus in the wilderness. The devil said, “If you bow down, I will give you all the kingdoms of the earth”. He offered Jesus a shortcut, a “skip-to-the-happy-outcome” option.

Jesus found Himself between trial and triumph, but He knew that without His sacrifice, there would be no forgiveness of sins, no victory over death and no gift of eternal life. 

Without trial, there can be no triumph.  

friend, take a moment to thank Jesus for His sacrifice on the cross and invite Him into the trials you’re facing today.

Hey! You are a Chamatkar.

Cameron Mendes
Author

Worship artist, singer-songwriter, dreamer and passionate about spreading the Gospel.