133 Tested with Jesus (1): Stones to Bread and the Attack on Hope

The Attaching to God podcast returns after a break to begin a three-week Lenten series on the Temptations of Jesus. Hosts Cyd and Geoff Holsclaw (co-founders of the Center for Embodied Faith) reframe Jesus’ first temptation as an attack on his secure attachment to the Father—an attack on hope. The hosts connect this to modern anxieties that push people into “protection mode,” explain Jesus’ scripture-based response (“not by bread alone”), define hope as expectant waiting rooted in attachment, and offer a Lenten practice. The next episode will focus on the second temptation as an attack on faith.

Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.

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Transcript

Welcome Back + Kicking Off Lent 

Geoff Holsclaw: Welcome to the Attaching to God podcast. I know it's been a little while since we've re released new episodes. It's been so long that I don't even know which buttons to hit anymore to do the recording. But today we're gonna begin a journey through our book, landscapes of the Soul. And this is a perfect time to be starting.

We're gonna be starting here at. Lent Today we're exploring how the science and spirituality of attachment can move you into confident faith, courage, and connection.

The Big Question: Are the Temptations Attacks on Attachment? (Hope Under Fire)

Cyd Holsclaw: We're starting actually a three week Lenten preparation series, and today we're starting with the question, what if the devil's temptations of Jesus and the wilderness weren't just about sin? But we're actually attaching sorry, attacking, not attaching, but we're [00:01:00] actually attacking Jesus's attachment to the father.

So what if Satan was trying to destroy Jesus's faith, hope and love, which we know are the very foundations of secure attachment? And so today we're actually gonna start with the attack on hope.

Why Hope Matters: Modern Anxieties That Erode Trust

Geoff Holsclaw: So, why does this matter? Well, a lot of us, you know, struggle to understand like, how am I ever gonna pay off this, uh, student debt that I have? Or maybe just the, the rising housing costs. I'm never gonna be able to afford a house. Maybe for relationships. How am I gonna find somebody? All the good ones are taken.

My marriage is a mess already. Uh, and so a lot of us have a lot of anxieties, a lot of places where we don't feel like we have hope. Maybe, uh, we feel stuck in our work. we don't have meaningful work. Uh, and then also for those of us, you know, on the what do they call it, the, um. The, what's it, the gig economy is, what I'm trying to go for is the gig economy, the hustle, uh, always trying to work, work harder than we have concerns [00:02:00] about spiritual, bypassing, numbing, and cynicism.

And so all these things kind of come into play. They all attack our hope, uh, is God gonna be able to show up? Will we get through this? And so here's the setup for, uh, today. 

Setting the Scene: Baptism, Wilderness, and the First Temptation

Geoff Holsclaw: Is the temptations of Jesus. Jesus went out right after he was baptized in the river Jordan, right after he heard the, the father say, you are my beloved son and whom I'm well pleased.

Right after the spirit of God descended upon him. He was driven out and he was fasting in the desert for 40 days, and I don't even know how that would feel. I, I can barely fast 40 hours. At least 40 days. So Jesus is famished and right at that, that moment Satan comes and he, he offers his first temptation.

If you are the son of God, let these stones become as loaves of bread. I.

Connection vs Protection: The Devil’s Doubt Trap

Cyd Holsclaw: Yeah, and I think it's [00:03:00] so important that you just highlighted that this happens right after this beautiful baptismal moment where Jesus is hearing these words of delight and connection from the Father, and the spirit descends upon him like a dove because this attack that Satan. Launches against Jesus is really like, it's an attack on his joyful connection with the Father and the spirit and just the way He starts with, if you are the Son of God, sort of attacking his identity, um, as the Son of God, it's a challenge to this joy that Jesus and the Father have together where the Father has just said with you, I am well pleased.

And now the devil's trying to create doubt about whether the father is really attached and attuned to Jesus or not. And so the devil's basically in a sense saying, if you're so connected and so loved and delighted in, then why are you out here hungry? It's such a, I mean, it's a question we ask ourselves all the time, like, if God loves me and if we're so connected, [00:04:00] why am I dealing with what I'm dealing with?

Geoff Holsclaw: And really this is kind of the question that comes throughout so many different psalms that, you know, if we're God's beloved, if we're doing the righteous thing, if we are trying the best we can to follow God, how come bad things are happening? Why are things so difficult? It really gets at what we call one of our attachment defaults.

This question of. Will this distress be alle alleviated? Will this distress be alleviated? And really the devil wants us to, to kind of start asking if the world really is safe or is it savage? Uh, is this world a home that I can find peace in, or is it hazardous? And so the devil's trying to push Jesus back into protection mode.

We often talk about the difference between connection and protection, and it's okay to need to seek protection sometimes. Uh, you can't always be in, in connection mode. But really the devil's trying to push Jesus into functioning and organizing his life around this [00:05:00] protection.

Cyd Holsclaw: Yeah, and so like all of us, we are often, you know, faced with temptations that make us want to leap in and. Our own problems and try to fix things ourselves when really the invitation here and what we see in Jesus's response shows us that there's a very different way to respond than sort of solving it ourselves.

So yeah. 

Jesus’ Integrated Response: Remembering the Father’s Word

Cyd Holsclaw: Jeff, how does Jesus respond?

Geoff Holsclaw: So Jesus responds in what we call like an in integrated way. He uses cognitive tools as well as effective tools. Uh, so he uses cognitive tools to remember the words. Of God. So he answers with scripture. So he says people do not live upon by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

And of course, he's quoting Deuteronomy there. And so he's trying to, he's bringing to mind truth that reconnects him. So then there's these emotional resources reconnects him [00:06:00] to the relationship that he has with God, which is the every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

Cyd Holsclaw: Yeah, and it's really cool to think about the words that just proceeded from the mouth of the Lord not that long before this. And so sort of the last words that Jesus had heard spoken from his father were these words of delight and joy. And so it's like the reminder where Jesus is basically in essence saying like, because I'm attached to my father, this distress isn't enough.

To make me question my relationship with him, like Jesus is refusing to get pushed into protection mode and solving things himself because he is remembering that the fullness of life comes from connection to God and not seeking protection. In the world or even from the world. And so he's recalling that the connection to the father is more important than his physical needs by sort of saying, you know, the words that I live by rather than the bread or the things that I turn into stone to try to feed myself.

I live by these [00:07:00] words of delight and affection from the father. That joyful connection that we have.

Jesus as Model and Savior: Distress Doesn’t Get the Last Word

Geoff Holsclaw: So why did Jesus have to get tempted? Why was you know, God out there fasting? And it's because Jesus, who is God is also full human. And so we in a sense, can look to Jesus as a model to know what to do or how to respond in our humanity because we can look to his full humanity. But the truth is, is, is Jesus is God.

So we actually also look to him as our hope, not just as the model of our hope. And so when we look to Jesus as our hope, we can, we can say several different things is like Jesus. There will be distress, there will be stress, there will be sorrow, there will be suffering in this life. Um,

Cyd Holsclaw: kind of a lot of it these days, it seems like

Geoff Holsclaw: Well, every day.

You know, I

Cyd Holsclaw: every day.

Geoff Holsclaw: I always don't want to get into the like, oh yeah, [00:08:00] this, there's so much going on in the world, you know? There's been so much going on in the world for all of human history. Right. I don't just want us to think we are so, but yes, but yes.

Cyd Holsclaw: I've heard a lot of people say recently is that, you know, I guess if you live, if you live in the United States, maybe things feel a little more stressful and discouraging than they have in the last little while, but it also depends on what you're paying attention to. And if you're paying attention to the things that are disconcerting and troubling, you see 'em everywhere.

If you're paying attention to the evidence of God's affection and connection, that evidence is also everywhere

Geoff Holsclaw: Right,

Cyd Holsclaw: Anyway.

Geoff Holsclaw: But in these moments we might be tempted to think that, uh, like the world is against us, that the world, you know, is not God's good creation. And that we really need to protect ourselves and that we you know, in small ways. We are trying to turn stones into bread. We're trying to do it on our own that [00:09:00] the stress will not be alleviated unless I take care of it in some fashion.

Cyd Holsclaw: Yeah, and it can be really easy to think. We do have to take care of it in some fashion, but the really good news that we need to remember is that we are never left alone to alleviate our distress because, you know, we talk about joy all the time, like the gladness of God being with us, and so Jesus, our good shepherd.

Who, the one who is glad to be with us is also the one who has authority over the entire world. So he walks on water, he silences the wind and the rain, and he restores broken bodies, and he opens blind eyes and he crosses cultural boundaries and he even overcomes death. And so when we look at. Who Jesus is in the light of, you know, the relationship to the world and the distress that we see in the world, we can remember that the distress of this world can never overshadow the reality that Jesus is actually the reliever of [00:10:00] distress.

And we see in the Psalms all over the place that Jesus is our refuge and our hope. He is our strong tower, our mighty fortress. He's the repairer of all of our ruptures. And so not only does Jesus have all that authority. But he also fully understands our distress. Like he sees it, he hears the cries of discomfort, he understands what it's like, um, to be enduring whatever it is that you are enduring as you listen to this.

And he comes to be with us right in the middle of it all and to act on our behalf, and that is where we can find our hope.

Defining Hope: Expectant Waiting Rooted in Attachment

Geoff Holsclaw: And I'm just realizing, you know. We kind of didn't define hope as well as we could have early in the episode. So if we were to define our terms, no but if we were to define our terms, you know, we wanna remember that hope is more than just like wishing, but really hope is something more like an expectant waiting.

And so it's not hope [00:11:00] is not a demand that some, that we will get something or an entitlement, but hope is not also just a wish. Or a wanting or something like that, that it's kind of based in our attachment relationship with God. It is, and it's also something that persists through time. So it's something we're ex, it's expectant waiting.

Uh, and so are we expectant and full of faith that, that God is that and wanting to do something, but then are we also going to position ourselves to be open to waiting to kind of moving, through time. God has designed us to develop kind of this courageous hope, uh, knowing that God and others are available to us in the midst of our distress.

And when they're available to us, then that distress becomes alleviated, that someone steps in to, to do something, but not always when we want them to. And, and this is where kind of the, the genius of Lent, you know, as a church calendar has laid it out, you know, and just for many [00:12:00] people. You celebrated or you heard about Ash Wednesday.

Uh, and it always brings to mind, um, Psalm 1 0 3 13 and 14 as a father has compassion on his children. So the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. And I always think of fear there in our context is like those who are attached to him, verse 14, for he knows how we are formed. He remembers that we are dust.

So God remembers that we're dust. God has compassion for us, and yet doesn't always step in in our time. And Lent is this whole arc of a time that doesn't feel that great to be in, uh, because it's also training us just like this verse, you know, that. We are supposed to hunger and thirst for something more than just the visible things.

We have, the immediate things we can grasp or the relationships that we feel that we need, but rather we're fed by something even deeper. We're refreshed by something that's even more eternal and that's the very presence of [00:13:00] God.

Cyd Holsclaw: Yeah. So returning to all those things that, you know, we might find ourselves, you know, the things where the, you know, we talked about the economic anxiety, this like, I can't afford my life and, you know, especially the prices are going up. I'm not making any more money than I used to. Um, and then those relationship distress of, you know, I can't really find somebody who's good, or I don't like, I'll be on my own, or my marriage fell apart and now I'm, you know.

Putting up the, trying to pick up the pieces or just feeling stuck in a career or a job that doesn't make sense to you or isn't exciting to you.

Geoff Holsclaw: parents who feel estranged or distant from their own children

Cyd Holsclaw: Or kids who'd feel like their parents don't understand 'em or support them. Yeah, so there's all kinds of things that are sort of these, these temptations of if you really are loved by God. Like, solve it or, you know, just think positive or, you [00:14:00] know nothing will change. So why we even bother? Or if you really are the son of God, why are you experiencing this distress?

That's the question that kind of comes up over and over and over again, and that's why it's so important for us to remember that Jesus knows our distress and he's experienced it too. And he didn't succumb to the temptation to turn stones into bread and to solve it himself or to numb out or to avoid the whole problem or to find despair, but that instead he responded with reaffirming his attachment with God.

A Practical Lenten Exercise: Notice Distress, Name It, Practice Hope

Geoff Holsclaw: So why don't you we're still trying to figure out kind of our, our method or kind of the flow of some of these episodes. But Syd, do you wanna do the reflection questions or are you telling me to do the, the lented practice?

Cyd Holsclaw: Yeah, just, we don't have to actually do the practice, but just explain it to people and we can put it in the show notes so people can go back and read it.

Geoff Holsclaw: You're the very practical. I know we're, we're trying to share these things, but like you're the spiritual director. [00:15:00] You're the one who actually does these things, so,

Cyd Holsclaw: Okay. But you can too, but I will do it today. All right.

Geoff Holsclaw: your voice. It's so soothing.

Cyd Holsclaw: So here's just a simple practice that you could well, it's not so simple. It's actually kind of hard, but it's, it's a good one. So just, you know, as a Lenin practice going into this week, there's sort of this, you know, putting off, putting on kind of dynamic that we practice in Lent where, what is one thing that I can sort of let go of as I try to make more space in my life for God And what's something that I can sort of.

Adopt or take on. And so maybe this is one of those things that you can adopt or take on, like a practice you could start engaging for this season. And, and one, it's just really one of simply noticing, like noticing throughout your day what is causing me discomfort or anxiety. Naming it as something like, wow, this is actually causing me some distress.

So, you know, I'll just share for myself, like Jeff and I recently had a change in health insurance [00:16:00] and our family doctor, who we've been with for eight years, um, we found out is not renewing his contract with our new health insurance carrier. And so we now have to find a new doctor, which is just kind of a pain.

I know we're blessed to have health insurance, so I'm not complaining about having health insurance. It's just that that's causing me some distress. And so, you know, I even just burst out last night. Jeff and I are sitting down together and we're actually watching a show and then like at a commercial break, I just said to him, I'm noticing I'm really stressed out about this whole doctor shift.

I just needed to say it out loud so that I'm not carrying it by myself. So not saying that that's the practice I'm inviting you into of just blurting it out during commercial breaks, but at least noticing, starting to pay attention what is causing me anxiety. What is causing me discomfort and then noticing how am I responding to that?

And, you know, the way that I was responding in protection mode to the stress that was coming up in this for me [00:17:00] was I was just like, well, I'm just gonna avoid it. I'll deal with it later. And so I kept sort of like pushing it off and avoiding it, and that was my way of just sort of, I'm not gonna deal with it.

Not that it's gonna solve itself, but somehow I'm not gonna deal with it. And that was the way I was sort of turning stones to bread was like, I'm just gonna pretend it doesn't exist. Well, not helpful. But when I noticed that, that's my response, then I can be more reflective about how do I actually wanna take some action?

What are some steps I might be able to take to actually face the anxiety or the discomfort rather than just turning away from it. And then so that noticing of the distress, noticing your response to the distress. And then the third step of that then is how do I practice hope in the midst of this distress?

And so what's maybe one scripture about God's faithfulness that I could memorize? Or what is something that I can remember about how God has provided and been faithful and has shown up for us in the past? And then the last [00:18:00] piece of like practicing connection. So when I'm distressed, before I try to do anything about it, can I pause and remember, I am attached to God. This distress is not enough to rupture my connection with the father who loves me and calls me by name. And so in the midst of my distress, can I remember that I am a child of God. And so taking away the, if. Where Satan is saying, if you are the son of God and instead saying, no, Jesus is the son of God.

And when I am in Christ, I am also a child of God and so can I remember that I am attached to God and this distress can't change that. So we'll drop that in the show notes too, so that if that was too much to sort of digest by hearing, you can also read it maybe. What are we gonna put the reflection questions too?

Maybe we'll put some.

Geoff Holsclaw: those in too. 

Closing Encouragement: Distress Isn’t Sin + Next Week’s Attack on Faith

Geoff Holsclaw: But this week, as you prepare for Lent, it is, it's not a sin to be [00:19:00] distressed, right? It's not a sin to be stressed out. It's, it's not a sin to have certain anxieties, right? So, but, but that's when the enemy comes in and whispers if God really loves you. This wouldn't be happening.

If God really loves you, uh, you shouldn't be struggling and now you're gonna have to do something outside of what God is offering, uh, and reprioritize and maybe, uh, God isn't as as important. And, but Jesus himself in the wilderness showed us that connection with God matters more than comfort in the world.

He showed us that connection with God is more important than even what feels to be the most important thing to us. And so he is our hope. He's leading the way for us and he's also the goal and destination that we are striving towards. So next week we're gonna look at the second temptation, the attack on faith.

But thank you so much for being with us and,

Cyd Holsclaw: on, hold on. 

Final Wrap + Call to Action (Subscribe/Review/Share)

Cyd Holsclaw: Before we go, just like as a way of wrapping up, right, that like [00:20:00] as we're sort of beginning on this Lenin journey that we are. Reminding ourselves that we're following Jesus into the wilderness on the way to the cross, and we're gonna be tested like that's just a part of life as a human on earth.

And our hope will be challenged and our faith will be questioned. And you know, loving like Jesus loves will end up costing us something. But the good news in all of this is that we follow the one who's already walked this path. And Jesus has faced every temptation that we face, and he invites us to become deeply attached.

And his offer of attachment and a connection is always available to us when we feel it and when we don't.

Geoff Holsclaw: Amen. Amen. Well, please, uh, wherever you're listening to this like, subscribe, write a review, share this with your friends, podcasts, our substack, all the different things. Uh, and thank you for being patient with our large break between, uh, [00:21:00] seasons.