“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)
Satan always has a plan for the desperate. Turning stones into bread sounds good when you haven’t eaten in forty days. But the trouble with ungodly counsel is it always comes back to bite you ten-fold. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Prov. 14:12)
Our fears can shout at us to “DO SOMETHING!” But what we really need to do is hear God’s still, small voice. Our lives depend on hearing from God. Jesus was close enough to the Father to discern what wasn’t God’s way of escape and then to wait for His counsel. Times of trouble can drive us into a deeper mess when we find a wrong remedy, or they can drive us into the close encounter with God that we’ve needed all along. Afflictions can be a wake-up call to draw near to God, to listen better than we have, to find comfort and strength in the assurance of His presence with us.
God promises us: if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. Are we willing to get close enough to Him to hear what He has to say; or do we want a quick fix that can keep us avoiding real intimacy with a God who has something to say to us in every day, good or bad? Every word that proceeds from His mouth to yours has life in it. You cannot afford to take another step with God afar off.