Matthew 4:1 "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."

Jesus knew exactly where He was going, why He was going, and what He was doing when He went into the wilderness, yet he also was being led by the Spirit. He was doing His Father's will and entering into this time of fasting and temptation to prepare for His ministry, and the Holy Spirit led Him and was with Him. So there was both agency and obedience here, which is the way our following of God should always be.

When we are open to Him, the Holy Spirit will guide us to the right path, the path of God's will, but we are free to follow or not. I must admit I was a bit oblivious to the Spirit's guidance for a long time. As I have said before, I was a bit too comfortable and I did not have to make difficult decisions (or at last I did not recognize when I was being asked to). When the time came for a decision like this, I found that God had prepared me (as He says he will do in the Novena of Surrender (see Day 5)). I saw that I was being asked to go into the wilderness, that is, to step back from much that I felt I needed, and many who I love, and be alone and very uncomfortable for a while. I knew this would be very painful, yet I also knew it was God's will. I could have said no and stayed in my comfort zone (although that was becoming less and less comfortable, which is one way God led me to this place), but I had arrived at the point where I now saw that would be saying no to God and, thanks to the guidance He had so lovingly given me, I never wanted to do that again.

Jesus shows us here how to approach these moments. We are not as in tune with God's will as Jesus was, but we pray and discern and once we know the Spirit is leading us somewhere, even if it is somewhere we would rather not go, we trust and we follow. God then gives us the grace to get through the temptations and sufferings that come with this time in the wilderness, and we emerge stronger, more ready to be His followers and more able to hear His voice.