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HP061

NAVIGATINGTHE STORMS OF LIFEby Gary Inrig

HHow’s your life going right now? Is it smoothsailing? Are you seldom

off balance? Is there no sensethat there has to be more to thepicture than you are seeing? Ifso, this booklet probably won’tseem very significant to you.

But if you can admit withsome of the rest of us that onmore than a few occasions wewonder where our lives aregoing, whether we have it in usto face the day, or how to takethe next step with confidence, I think you’ll be as encouragedas I am by this excerpt from True North by pastor Gary Inrig.

Sometimes we need a friendlike Gary to tell us what we canbelieve with confidence.

Martin R. De Haan II

CONTENTS

Finding True North(The Book Of Job) . . . . . 2

“Don’t Leave Home Without It” (The Temptation Of Jesus) . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Managing Editor: David Sper Cover Photo: Getty ImagesScripture taken from the New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan.All rights reserved.This booklet is based on a portion of True North by Gary Inrig, published by Discovery HousePublishers, a member of the RBC Ministries family.© 2006 RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, Michigan Printed in USA

HP061 Storms Of Life pp 2/20/06 4:54 PM Page 1

© RBC Ministries. All rights reserved.

FINDING TRUENORTH

TThe only hope a sailorhas of surviving a stormand navigating an ocean

is to have a fixed referencepoint that enables him todiscover where he is andwhere he is heading. The first navigators kept in sight of land, using familiarlandmarks. When marinersdared to push beyond thesight of land, they still needed to find a fixed point of reference. So they looked to the heavens. As knowledgegrew and celestial navigationdeveloped, the primaryreference point for navigatorsin the Northern Hemispherebecame the North Star,Polaris. Modern technologyhas changed the process.Sextants and compasses have given way to electronicnavigation and the GlobalPositioning System (GPS). But the principle remains the same. The fixed reference

points for the GPS are asystem of 24 satellites thatsend out signals, which areceiver then uses to computelatitude, longitude, and evenaltitude. Those satellites haveprecisely fixed locations.

The North Star fornavigating life is Jesus Christ.This is true whether we are inrelatively familiar waters withold landmarks comfortably insight, or far out in unchartedwaters with nothing on thehorizon. It is our focus onChrist that will keep us on course. That can easily sound like a pious platitude,but in the middle of a storm itbecomes an urgent necessity.Few places in the Bibleillustrate that as well as the compelling story of Job.Although the story has aprofound depth that demandscareful attention, my goal ismore modest. We are going to look at some of the book’sessential themes, whichprovide several importantnavigation principles.

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Life’s Storms May Hit The MostUnexpected People.Whatever else is true of Job,he is not an ordinary man,and his is not an ordinary life. As we read his story, wemust recognize that he is anexception, not the norm. Thisis not the way things usuallyhappen. And profound as thebook is, it does not attempt to answer all of our questionsabout the mystery of evil. Butits opening words introduceus to a life well lived and aman whom God marked outfor his upright character.

In the land of Uz there liveda man whose name was Job.This man was blamelessand upright; he feared God and shunned evil. Hehad seven sons and threedaughters, and he ownedseven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, fivehundred yoke of oxen andfive hundred donkeys, andhad a large number ofservants. He was the

greatest man among all thepeople of the East. His sonsused to take turns holdingfeasts in their homes, andthey would invite their threesisters to eat and drink withthem. When a period offeasting had run its course,Job would send and havethem purified. Early in themorning he would sacrificea burnt offering for each ofthem, thinking, “Perhapsmy children have sinnedand cursed God in theirhearts.” This was Job’sregular custom (Job 1:1-5).There is much that we do

not know about Job. We arenot told when he lived, and we have only a general idea of where (northern SaudiArabia or southern Jordan).We are unsure about hisrelation, if any, to the peopleof Israel. Who wrote the book and when also remainunanswerable questions. Butthe message that the HolySpirit intends us to learn fromJob’s story does not depend on

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these things. It does, however,require us to consider carefullythe information we are givenabout the man described inthese first few verses.

Job is a person ofimpeccable character, a man of integrity, “blamelessand upright.” This is not justthe human author’s opinion.Remarkably, it is the opinionof God, who challenges Satanwith Job’s character: “Haveyou considered My servantJob? There is no one on earthlike him; he is blameless andupright, a man who fears Godand shuns evil” (1:8). Nohigher affirmation can beimagined. “The fear of theLord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding”(28:28). Job is a sinful humanbeing, but he towers above hiscontemporaries in the integrityof his inner life.

Job is also a person ofsubstance. The description ofhis wealth doesn’t immediatelystrike us as making himworthy of inclusion on a list

of the world’s wealthiest men, especially in a culturethat seems to make peoplebillionaires overnight on thestock market and instantmillionaires on game shows.But Job, in the currency of his day, was a successful andprosperous man. Family wasconsidered wealth, and a man with seven sons was rich indeed. Seven thousandsheep, three thousand camels,five hundred working teams of oxen, five hundred donkeys,a large retinue of servants—these were all marks of powerand prominence. Job was aman to be reckoned with, a man who was not onlypersonally prosperous but also wielded great economicinfluence in his region. He wasnot merely successful; he was“the greatest man among allthe people of the East” (1:3).

A third thing we are toldabout Job is that he was a manwith a vigorous and authenticspiritual life, combined with adeep concern for his family.

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His wealth had not made him self-indulgent or self-sufficient.He was a man of prayer whoupheld his children before theLord. His sons and daughtersloved to party. We are not toldexactly what these partiesinvolved, but they apparentlytroubled Job enough for him to be concerned about hischildren’s spiritual and moralwell-being. To that end, hemade sure that all of thesefeasts were followed by somekind of ritual purification forhis children. Then he wouldoffer sacrifices for each ofthem, with a prayerful concernfor their relation to God andtheir inner lives: “Perhaps my children have sinned andcursed God in their hearts”(1:5). The precise details ofthis process are obscure to us;the larger meaning is not. Jobdid not take his wealth forgranted and forget God. Nordid he believe his childrenwere entitled to live the goodlife, indifferent to God.

We therefore begin with a

clear picture of the man who isat the center of the action. Jobis a pillar of moral integrity, amodel of spiritual authenticity,and a recognized and respectedsuccess. In every sphere of life,Job flourished. He was the kindof person people admired andGod marked out as special.

Then, suddenly,unpredictably, everythingchanges. Job’s life is tornapart, and he has no way ofknowing why. He is living atground level as one disasterafter another tears apart hiscarefully constructed life. Asreaders, we are given theadvantage of seeing Job’s lifefrom a heavenly perspective.But as we live our own lives,we live where Job did, atground level, unable to seethings from above. And that isthe heart of the life of faith—trusting when and where wedo not see or understand.

Round one begins with the sudden arrival of a reportfrom one of his servants:

One day when Job’s sons 5



and daughters were feastingand drinking wine at theoldest brother’s house, amessenger came to Job and said, “The oxen wereplowing and the donkeyswere grazing nearby, andthe Sabeans attacked andcarried them off. They putthe servants to the sword,and I am the only one whohas escaped to tell you!”(1:13-15).It isn’t clear whether this

is an act of war or a brutalrobbery, but it is an act thatcombines terror with massivefinancial and personal losses.Job probably grieved far morefor his lost servants than forhis lost oxen and sheep. Butthe avalanche of troubles isonly beginning.

While he was still speaking,another messenger cameand said, “The fire of Godfell from the sky and burned up the sheep andthe servants, and I am theonly one who has escapedto tell you!” (1:16).

Job barely has time tocatch his breath when thesecond blow falls. This time it is some kind of naturaldisaster, perhaps a massivelightning strike that causes afire that destroys his sheepand his shepherds. But onceagain, Job has no time for thebad news to sink in:

While he was still speaking,another messenger cameand said, “The Chaldeansformed three raiding partiesand swept down on yourcamels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am theonly one who has escapedto tell you!” (1:17).This time the troubles

are again human in origin. The raiding parties of theChaldeans have swept down,stolen Job’s camels, and killedhis herdsmen. He must havewondered whether somestrange alliance of tribalgroups had targeted him. But, once again, he has noopportunity to process the

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information. Anothermessenger arrives with farworse news. For the third timewe have the phrase “while hewas still speaking.” Thesemessengers are almost fallingover one another in theirurgency to bring the bad news:

While he was still speaking,yet another messenger cameand said, “Your sons anddaughters were feasting anddrinking wine at the oldestbrother’s house, whensuddenly a mighty windswept in from the desert andstruck the four corners ofthe house. It collapsed onthem and they are dead,and I am the only one whohas escaped to tell you!”(1:18-19).Of all the news Job has

received, none is worse thanthis. A tornado-like wind hastaken the lives of all who are most precious to him.Combined with the othermessages, this becomes awaking nightmare for Job. Hisprosperity, his security, his

lifestyle, his social standing,and his family have vanishedin a moment’s time. Withinminutes, he has beentransformed from the greatestman of the East to the mostdesolate man on earth.

Harsh as Job’s nightmareday is, however, this is onlyround one. Round two willtarget Job’s personal healthand well-being:

So Satan went out from thepresence of the Lord andafflicted Job with painfulsores from the soles of hisfeet to the top of his head.Then Job took a piece ofbroken pottery and scrapedhimself with it as he satamong the ashes. His wifesaid to him, “Are you stillholding on to your integrity?Curse God and die!” (2:7-9).The specifics of Job’s

disease aren’t clear, but hiscondition was extremelypainful and socially isolating.He was reduced to a beggar-like existence, sitting on agarbage heap, surrounded by

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broken pottery and the ashesof burned-out fires. He hadlost everything of value tohim: family, health, property,social standing. Even his wife,traumatized by her grief, is in no condition to give himsupport. In fact, she holdsGod and perhaps Jobresponsible for what hashappened. Nothing in lifemakes sense to Job at thatmoment, although somethingof value does remain—hisview of God. It has beenthreatened, but it has notbeen lost. In fact, as we shallsee, it is Job’s focus on God asthe North Star that enableshim to navigate the storm.

Few, if any, human beingshave experienced what Jobdid. But we can identify withthe feeling of being far out atsea in a life-threatening stormwith no familiar landmarks in sight. As I write this, I amabout to visit a young womanwhose husband suddenlycollapsed during a workout,leaving her a widow with two

small children. Her clearlyenvisioned future has come to a sudden and painful end.How does she go on? Thatbecomes the fundamentalquestion when we are facedwith situations we can hardlyimagine but cannot change.

The book of Job isintended to help us answerthat question, but not in atheoretical way. Although the book confronts us with the problem of evil, it does not intend to give us aphilosophical resolution.Instead, it challenges us, in the face of unexplained andunexplainable tragedies, to fixour eyes on God. The first twoacts of Job’s tragedy unfold onearth. Now we are invited toview the events of his life from another perspective, onethat involves a fundamentalmystery of human life.

Be Aware Of TheUnseen Cause BehindThe “Seen” Of Life.God claims every inch of theuniverse, and that claim is

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attacked and challenged bySatan. Behind the “seen” ofhuman history and our lives isa cosmic conflict between Godand the evil one. It is not aneven contest. Satan is in noway God’s equal or even Hisrival, although he bitterlyopposes all that God does. Weare rarely aware of how thatinvisible war touches our lives,but the truth is that our livesare part of a story bigger thanwe can imagine. And theunique thing the book of Jobdoes is to allow us to stand inthe heavenlies and understandthe heavenly prelude toearthly events. We are able to see what Job never sees andto know what he is never told.The story unfolds in dramaticform, and we need to becareful about pressing thedetails in a way Scripturedoesn’t intend. It does,however, make it clear that our world is the focus of anenduring conflict between Godand Satan, and our lives arepart of that bigger story. It

also calls us to recognize themystery of life, and reminds usthat many of the explanationswe attempt to give areprofoundly shortsighted.

One day the angels came to present themselves beforethe Lord, and Satan alsocame with them. The Lordsaid to Satan, “Where haveyou come from?” Satananswered the Lord, “Fromroaming through the earthand going back and forth in it.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have youconsidered My servant Job?There is no one on earthlike him; he is blamelessand upright, a man whofears God and shuns evil.”“Does Job fear God fornothing?” Satan replied.“Have You not put a hedge around him and hishousehold and everythinghe has? You have blessedthe work of his hands, sothat his flocks and herds arespread throughout the land.But stretch out Your hand

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and strike everything hehas, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” The Lord said to Satan,“Very well, then, everythinghe has is in your hands, buton the man himself do notlay a finger.” Then Satanwent out from the presenceof the Lord (1:6-12).While we are told very

little in the Bible about howthe world of the heavenliesoperates, Job does present us with a remarkable glimpsebehind the scenes. Theangelic beings come intoGod’s presence, and Satan is with them—but not as one who is loyal to God.Elsewhere in Scripture wemeet Satan as “the accuser of our brothers, who accusesthem before our God day andnight” (Rev. 12:10). That samepassage tells us that he will be cast out of heaven justbefore the final events of thetribulation period. It seems,until then, that Satan hasaccess to the presence of God,

where he opposes God’s workby attacking and accusingGod’s people. Why Godpermits this we are not told.However, it is in such a settingthat God takes the initiativeby issuing a challenge toSatan: “Where have you comefrom?” The Lord is not askingfor information; He is callingSatan to account. Satan’sresponse is ambiguous: “I’vebeen wandering around theearth, everywhere in generaland nowhere in particular.”This is met by the Lord’sdirect challenge, which takes the form of an amazingaffirmation of Job: “Have youconsidered My servant Job?There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fearsGod and shuns evil” (1:8).

We should not pass overthis too quickly, for there is a profound fact about humanexistence found in thesewords. God’s purpose is tomagnify His worth and gloryin and through His people.

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Of all the features of Hiscreation He could have used to shame Satan, the Lord chose a believer. Theimportance of this for everysingle Christ-follower cannotbe exaggerated. We bear thename and reputation of ourGod, not only before theworld but also before theprincipalities and powers(Eph. 3:10). The chief end of man truly is to glorify Godand to enjoy Him forever, and when we do, Satan isdefeated and God is exalted.

If God’s purpose is tomagnify His glory, Satan’spurpose is to defame God and to deface His glory. Hiscounterchallenge strikes at theheart of a believer’s relation toGod. You can hear the sneerof contempt in his words:

Does Job fear God fornothing? . . . Have You not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the workof his hands, so that his

flocks and herds are spreadthroughout the land. Butstretch out Your hand andstrike everything he has,and he will surely curse You to Your face (1:9-11).Satan’s words are a

tremendous insult to God. In effect he is saying that God is not worth servingsimply on the basis of who He is. Instead, He needs tobuy the loyalty of Job and therest of mankind. Satan impliesthat the only reason anyonechooses to worship God is out of self-interest. And Satanunderstands self-interest. It ishis basic philosophy. That isone of the reasons the LordJesus is such a mystery to him.How can Satan understandSomeone who, “being in verynature God, did not considerequality with God somethingto be grasped, but madeHimself nothing”? (Phil. 2:6-7). He cannot, just as hecannot understand a Christ-follower who loves God for who He is and

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not merely for what He gives.This is the central question

of the book of Job: not, Whydo the righteous suffer? but,Why do the righteous serveGod? Human beings aresinful, and the corrupt motivesof people say more about usthan about God. Nevertheless,Satan raises an issue thatevery Christian must dealwith: Why do I follow Christ?Some forms of preaching thatpromise health, wealth, andprosperity to “the King’s kids”appeal to the worst instinctswithin us. Do I love God forHis gifts or for Himself? WouldI still love Him if He called meto walk the path of sufferingand sacrifice? Warren Wiersbesums up this essential issuewell:

Satan’s accusation cuts atthe very heart of worshipand virtue. Is God worthyto be loved and obeyedeven if He does not blessus materially and protectus from pain? Can Godwin the heart of man

totally apart from His gifts? In other words, thevery character of God iswhat is at stake in thisstruggle (Why Us? WhenBad Things Happen ToGod’s People, p.41).The Lord could have

dismissed Satan’s insolencewith the contempt it richlydeserved: “I don’t need toprove anything to you or toanyone else.” But He doesn’t.Instead, He allows Job tobecome a test case: “Verywell, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger” (1:12). Job nowbecomes the latest front in theinvisible war, the place whereSatan will seek to demeanGod’s worth and God’s glory.

We have no way ofknowing whether this precise scenario has everplayed itself out in the lives ofother believers. But, whateverour circumstances, God’sglory is at stake in the way we respond to situations that

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enter our lives. The issues weface are often far bigger thanour own peace and happiness.

The second act of theheavenly drama is a virtualrerun of the first, only this timeJob himself, rather than hisfamily or possessions, becomesthe object of attack. WhenGod points out that Job “stillmaintains his integrity,” Satandemands direct access to Job:

On another day the angelscame to present themselvesbefore the Lord, and Satanalso came with them topresent himself before Him.And the Lord said to Satan,“Where have you comefrom?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roamingthrough the earth and goingback and forth in it.” Thenthe Lord said to Satan,“Have You considered Myservant Job? There is no oneon earth like him; he isblameless and upright, aman who fears God andshuns evil. And he stillmaintains his integrity,

though you incited Meagainst him to ruin himwithout any reason.” “Skinfor skin!” Satan replied. “Aman will give all he has forhis own life. But stretch outyour hand and strike hisflesh and bones, and he willsurely curse You to Yourface.” The Lord said toSatan, “Very well, then, heis in your hands; but youmust spare his life” (2:1-6).That permission triggers

Satan’s onslaught on Job’shealth. Job is reduced to a pain-wracked outcast,scraping his sores with shards of pottery, vainlyseeking relief from his pain.

At this point, the onslaughtof catastrophes comes to anend, but this is not the end ofthe story. After all, we haveonly reached the secondchapter of a 42-chapter book.As Winston Churchill said ofthe first Allied victory inWorld War II, “Now this isnot the end. It is not even thebeginning of the end. But it is,

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perhaps, the end of thebeginning.” Satan disappearsfrom view. His part has onlybeen a prelude to the core ofthe book, which tells of Job’sencounter with God at a levelmore intense and profoundthan anything he has knownbefore.

Although these dramaticevents are considered theprologue, they do have anenduring message. Job’sexperiences remind us thatour storms and sufferings arepart of a larger struggle. Inways that we cannot see aswe live life at ground level, we are part of a larger cosmicstruggle. We have not beenpromised exemption from life’schallenges, and the way werespond in the storm hasdirect bearing on whether we reach the goal of bringingglory to God.

We also need to recognizethat suffering falls within thesweep of God’s sovereignty.How a sovereign, all-powerfulGod relates to the sufferings

and evils of a fallen world can be an enormous mystery.Yet, as we will see, Job did not make the mistake ofassuming that if he could notunderstand it, God must nothave anything to do with it.Job did not sacrifice the truthof God’s ultimate sovereigntyon the altar of his frailunderstanding. Neither must we. Satan does what he does, but not outside theboundaries of God’s control.Even the evil one is not free toact autonomously. He couldtouch Job only with God’spermission (2:5-6). Our Godremains sovereign even in theinexplicable events of life.

Job’s story also reminds us that there is such a thing asundeserved suffering. Perhapsour society, with its frail senseof sin and guilt, needs to hearthe opposite message: There is a God who must and willpunish sin. Some suffering isdue to God’s punishment or to the consequences of sin in our lives. Nevertheless,

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not all suffering is the result of personal sin. That is aconcept Job’s friends utterlyfail to grasp in the centralsection of the book. Theirtheology is as clear as ice and twice as cold: Whatever a person reaps, he has sown.They are sure that Job musthave committed some deep,hidden sin to experience suchdire consequences, and theyare relentless in theiraccusations. But they are also wrong.

God makes it clear thatJob’s sufferings occur notbecause he is sinful butbecause he is righteous. Thereis mystery here, and that isprecisely the point. We arenot in possession of all thefacts, and we need to behumble before claiming toknow the mind of God. Thewhy of his suffering remains amystery to Job, as ours oftendoes to us. I do not know whymy colon suddenly rupturedor why my retina detached,permanently damaging my

eyesight. I do not know whymy wife contracted cancer or, even more mysteriously, why she survived while otherwonderfully godly friends diedof the same disease. But I am sure of two things. First,suffering is not always aconsequence of directpersonal sin, but it is alwaysthe result of living in a fallenworld. None of us are exemptfrom the effects of thatfallenness. Second, sufferingmay be undeserved, but it isnever purposeless. Job says itbeautifully: “He knows theway that I take; when He hastested me, I will come forth asgold” (23:10). God uses evenundeserved suffering to refineus and to produce in us agrowing likeness to Jesus forthe glory of God and for thegood of others.

Suffering presents us withmystery. As Job pours out his feelings and thoughts, itbecomes clear that he thinksGod is, for some unexplainedreason, angry with him

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(Job 3–31). He is wrong. In fact, God is proud of him.Throughout their discourse,Job and his friends see hissituation as a problem thatmust be solved. Only in theend does Job realize that it is a mystery that must besurrendered to an all-wise, all-powerful God.

It has helped meimmeasurably to realize that my fundamental concernin such times must not be, How can I get out of this? but,What can I get out of this?That is not a stance of passiveresignation. Job strugglesmightily to understand andbarrages heaven with hisquestions. God approves hisdesperate quest for answerseven as He rebukes the rigidorthodoxy of Job’s friends:“You have not spoken of Mewhat is right, as My servantJob has” (42:7). But in the end, Job is reduced to silencebefore the mystery of God’ssovereign purposes.

And what is Job’s response

to the sufferings that havebefallen him? Job holdscourse, even in the midst of catastrophic storms. Thereason is clear. He has aNorth Star, and he takes hisbearings from a referencepoint that is fixed and certain.

We Need A ClearSight Of The Triune GodTo Chart Our Course.Job’s immediate recourse is tothe sovereign, gracious controlof God. Job does not come tothese crises unequipped. Heknows God. You may deepenyour knowledge of God in acrisis, but it is a poor time to try to find Him. Job drawsupon a lifetime of worshipingand walking with God. WhenJob’s nightmare of a daycomes to an end and he findshimself stripped of everythinghe valued, he speaks wordsthat are profoundly moving:

At this, Job got up and torehis robe and shaved hishead. Then he fell to theground in worship and said:“Naked I came from my

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mother’s womb, and nakedI will depart. The Lord gaveand the Lord has takenaway; may the name of theLord be praised.” In all this,Job did not sin by chargingGod with wrongdoing(1:20-22).It is impossible not to be

moved by Job’s response. Hemakes no effort to choke offhis emotions. Yet, throughtears, he maintains his focuson the Lord. His response ofworship is not empty ritualbut the practiced response ofa man who has learned towalk with his God. Job feelsthe storm in all its intensity,but he chooses to focus onthe Star, not the storm, to seeabove the horizon to the livingGod. He is deeply aware ofGod’s grace (“the Lord gave”)and His sovereignty (“the Lord has taken away”), andhe chooses to praise God,even in the midst of his pain. These are not trite words; they are not pious words he is expected to say. This is the

resolve of his deepest being.The second round of

testing ends in a remarkablysimilar way. This time Job’sfocus is revealed in anencounter with his wife:

His wife said to him, “Areyou still holding on to yourintegrity? Curse God anddie!” He replied, “You aretalking like a foolish woman.Shall we accept good fromGod, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said (2:9-10).At first glance, this may

seem like fatalistic resignation.That is not the case. Aschapters 3 to 31 reveal, Jobhas a passionate trust in God.But he quickly enters thecrucible of grief, and thesechapters describe the depth of his struggle to maintain hisconfidence in God’s goodness,as well as His control.

If Job’s immediate recourse was confidence inGod’s control, his ultimateresolution was trust in thecharacter of God. In the

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powerful conclusion of thebook, Job meets the living God(Job 38–42). He receives noexplanations for what hashappened or why. Instead, hemeets God and is overpoweredby His wisdom, His power, His grace, and His care. Job’s ultimate answer is notphilosophical or theologicalbut personal. He finds himselfhumbled and repentant beforethe God of glory and grace:“My ears had heard of You but now my eyes have seenYou. Therefore I despise myselfand repent in dust and ashes”(42:5-6). In God’s presence,Job’s view of God and himselfhas changed. There is muchthat has not taken place. Godhas not explained Job’s pain.He has not answered hisquestions. He has notdefended His actions. He has not unraveled the mysteryof evil. But He has revealedHimself and called for Job’s trust. The Lord is moreconcerned to enlarge Job’s trustthan to satisfy his curiosity.

God can always be trusted, even when we do not understand what He isdoing. He is unchanging inHis character, the only fixedpoint in a changing world.

God has a right to do whatHe does: He is sovereign. Godhas a reason for what Hedoes: He is good and wise.God has a goal in all He does:He is fair and gracious.

The story of Job driveshome a powerful truth. Weneed to fill our minds withthoughts of God that areworthy of Him. All unworthyideas get us dangerously offcourse. At the heart of hisordeal, Job cries out in wordsof faith and hope:

I know that my Redeemerlives, and that in the end Hewill stand upon the earth.And after my skin has beendestroyed, yet in my flesh Iwill see God; I myself willsee Him with my owneyes—I, and not another.How my heart yearns within me! (19:25-27).

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What a powerful examplefor us. For the truth is, weknow so much more of Godthan Job did. Our vision ofHim is far more compelling.Our North Star is the triuneGod revealed in the Lord JesusChrist. We know the Wordbecome flesh. We possess thewords and works of Jesus. Wesee in His Person the incarnatetruth about God. We stand atthe cross and wonder at thedepth of His love. We standbefore the open tomb andrecognize His power. We have His Spirit living within topersonalize His presence. Wepossess His Word of truth, inwhich we can hear His voice.He is the fixed point, the NorthStar, or, to use His descriptionof Himself, “the bright MorningStar” (Rev. 22:16). He is theindispensable constant toenable us to live life well. If He is not the fixed referencepoint by which we constantlydetermine our location anddirection, we are doomed toflounder.

“DON’T LEAVE HOMEWITHOUT IT”

LLiving life in the modernworld is like trying

to navigate an uncharted, rapidly changing, unpredictableocean. We have sailed off the edge of our maps. The first need is to have a fixed,unchanging reference point.That North Star is our triuneGod, made known in the Lord Jesus Christ. Navigation,however, requires much morethan a fixed reference point. Iknow how to find the NorthStar in the night skies. I don’thave the slightest idea how tofind my location by using it.Even if I did, I would need theappropriate tool to enable meto bring the North Star downto my horizon. A Christianknows that the Bible, thewritten Word of God, is theGod-given navigational tool toenable us to reach our God-intended destination, which is

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likeness to Jesus, for the glory of God and the good ofothers. But I need more thanknowledge that the Bible ismy spiritual sextant. I need toknow how to use it properly.The great example of theproper attitude toward anduse of Scripture is found inthe Lord Jesus. That being so,the attitude of the Lord JesusChrist to Scripture must shapemy use of and attitude toGod’s Word.

One of the constantthemes of the Gospels is thecentrality of Scripture in thelife of the Lord. The Biblefilled His teaching, directedHis choices, and foretold Hissufferings. He steered His lifeby Scripture, and that is nevermore clearly seen than in Hisencounter with Satan at theoutset of His public ministry.Luke gives us the account inchapter 4 of his gospel:

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit,returned from the Jordanand was led by the Spirit inthe desert, where for forty

days He was tempted by thedevil. He ate nothing duringthose days, and at the end ofthem He was hungry. Thedevil said to Him, “If Youare the Son of God, tell thisstone to become bread.”Jesus answered, “It iswritten: ‘Man does not liveon bread alone.’ ” The devilled Him up to a high placeand showed Him in aninstant all the kingdoms ofthe world. And he said toHim, “I will give You alltheir authority and splendor,for it has been given to me,and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if You worshipme, it will all be Yours.”Jesus answered, “It iswritten: ‘Worship the Lordyour God and serve Himonly.’ ” The devil led Him to Jerusalem and had Himstand on the highest point of the temple. “If You are the Son of God,” he said,“throw Yourself down fromhere. For it is written: ‘Hewill command His angels

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concerning you to guard you carefully; they will liftyou up in their hands, sothat you will not strike yourfoot against a stone.’ ” Jesusanswered, “It says: ‘Do notput the Lord your God to thetest.’ ” When the devil hadfinished all this tempting, heleft Him until an opportunetime (Lk. 4:1-13).The greatest privilege of life

is to become a Christ-follower,a person living by faith inJesus Christ as Lord andSavior. The greatest purposein life is to become like Christ,living a fully developing, fullyhuman life, imitating Christ.There are many ways inwhich we cannot become likethe Lord Jesus, for He is theGod-man, and the temptationof Christ reveals His uniquenature as the Son of God. Atthe same time, the temptationwas possible only because the Lord Jesus had taken anauthentic human nature, andin His victory over temptationHe employed the same

resource we, His followers,possess—the Word of God.

The Temptation Of The Lord JesusReveals His UniquePerson. There were nohuman witnesses to thisremarkable confrontation,which is recorded in thegospels of Matthew, Mark,and Luke. The Lord Jesusmust have told this story toHis disciples to enable themto see His uniqueness moreclearly. The striking thing isthat this is not a surpriseattack by Satan. Luke tells usthat the Spirit led Jesus in thedesert. Matthew is even morespecific: “Then Jesus was ledby the Spirit into the desert tobe tempted by the devil” (Mt.4:1). This encounter was notan ambush, sprung by Satanon an unsuspecting Jesus. It was a demonstration,engineered by the living God.Satan’s intention in his attackwas the destruction anddisqualification of the LordJesus. Were He to succumb,

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Jesus could not become ourSavior. So Satan put Jesusunder relentless, shrewd,calculated pressure. God’spurpose was entirely different.The steadfastness of Jesusunder Satan’s most intenseattacks vindicated andvalidated Him. His true nature as the perfect man,proven under testing, qualifiedHim to be the Substitute forHis people and the HighPriest who identifies andsympathizes with His temptedpeople. In the Lord’s case,temptation didn’t cause His failure; it exposed Hisremarkable character.

The conditions of thetemptation Christ endured are significant. The place is the desert, where God’speople Israel had failed sodeeply centuries before, whenthe Lord brought them out ofEgypt. Adam, by contrast, hadfailed under temptation in aperfect environment. Jesus willdemonstrate that He is all thatAdam and Israel should have

been and failed to be. Theprocess is a 40-day ordeal inwhich the Lord goes withoutfood. Apparently severaltemptations occurred duringthat period, but the Gospelspoint us only to the finalthree, which come at a timewhen Jesus is physically at His weakest and mostdepleted. Socially, He isisolated, utterly without an earthly support system.

Round one of Satan’sattack directly addresses the Lord’s obvious physicalcondition. “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread” (Lk. 4:3).Satan begins with the subtlesmoothness of the skilledseducer. He does not begin by attacking or doubtingJesus’ claim to be the Son ofGod. In fact, he accepts it forthe sake of argument: “If youare the Son of God (and I’llassume that you are).” Theessence of the attack is in thesuggestion “Tell this stone tobecome bread.” On the basic

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level, this is an enticement to a hungry man to satisfy hishunger. The Lord Jesus’ bodydid not differ from ours in itsphysical needs. What couldbe more powerful than aninvitation to eat after 40 daysof denial? By a simple act, He would not only satisfy His hunger but would alsodemonstrate His specialpowers to the enemy.

But this temptationoperates at an even deeperlevel, which shows the subtlety of the tempter. As Godthe Son, Jesus had exercisedHis divine attributes for alleternity in perfect agreementwith the Father. Now, as Helived His life as the God-man,He had submitted Himself to His Father’s will. Satan’sinducement is for Jesus to liveby self-gratification, using Hispowers autonomously, servingHis own agenda, and doingHis own thing.

It’s not wrong in itself tosatisfy a physical need suchas hunger. It’s not wrong to do

a miracle, turning stones intobread. But Satan’s appeal wasfor Jesus to take a shortcut, to cut His Father out of theequation and to set His needsabove everything else. This isone of Satan’s favorite ploys.“Your needs, your desires arethe priority. Satisfy them.Serve yourself.” Sex, food,marriage, money, pleasure,possessions—these are goodin themselves. They are to be enjoyed fully within theboundaries of the will of God,boundaries that are set for ourwell-being. But when thesethings become the priority,when we indulge our desiresautonomously, we are fallinginto the trap of the evil one.This is the old lie he used withEve: “You will be like God,knowing good and evil.” Thepoint wasn’t just that Evewould have intellectualknowledge of good and evilbut that she would definegood and evil, determining for herself what was right orwrong. This is the essence of

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sin: We usurp the place of the sovereign God.

The Lord’s response is brief but direct: “It is written:‘Man does not live on breadalone, but on every word thatcomes from the mouth ofGod’ ” (Mt. 4:4). He is saying,emphatically, “I eat at thedirection of My Father, not at the urging of My stomach.”Luke gives a shorter version ofthe quotation than Matthewdoes, but the message is thesame: Food (or, My body andits needs and desires) doesn’thave the priority. God does.He is Lord. The Lord Jesuscould have asserted Hisauthority, but He rests His response upon writtenScripture (Dt. 8:3). He is notonly responding to Satan; Heis declaring the fundamentalprinciple by which Henavigates life: Obeying God is the supreme priority of life.

Round two of Satan’sattack on the Lord begins witha physical change of location.Satan transports Jesus to a

high place from which heshows Him “in an instant allthe kingdoms of the world”(Lk. 4:5). Since there is nophysical location where thatwould be possible, this isobviously some kind ofvisionary experience. Satan’sclaim is breathtaking in itsaudacity: “I will give you alltheir authority and splendor,for it has been given to me,and I can give it to anyone I want to” (v.6). The claim isdelusional, like a child withsomeone else’s toy: “I have it.It’s mine.” The sovereign Godhas not ceded authority of anypart of His creation to theenemy. When the Lord Jesusdescribes Satan as “the princeof this world” in John 14:30,He is not suggesting that thedevil has any legitimateauthority over the world. The“world” in that context is theevil world system in rebellionagainst God and composed of those in rebellion againstGod. It is this that Satanoffers: “Take it. It’s Yours.

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I won’t fight You for it. All Youneed to do is bow down andworship me.”

The offer must have beenenticing. The kingdoms of theworld rightfully belong to theLord Jesus. Were He to acceptSatan’s offer, He could reclaimHis property and avoid thecross. Success withoutsuffering. What a concept! Hecould take the easy way anddetour around the cross. If wehave any idea of how costlythe cross was to the Lord, wecan understand how attractiveSatan thought this offer mightbe to Jesus. Modern Christ-followers know the sametemptation in another form:Avoid suffering and enjoy theworld. Just serve another king.

The Lord’s response is clear and direct. He could have debated Satan’s claim,but He doesn’t. He could haveattacked Satan’s audacity, butHe doesn’t. He could havemocked Satan’s credibility, butHe doesn’t. Instead, He quotesGod’s Word, again from the

book of Deuteronomy: “It is written: ‘Worship the Lordyour God and serve Himonly’” (Lk. 4:8; see Dt. 6:16),establishing a second non-negotiable principle by whichHe navigates life: Worshiping God is life’s supreme priority.Any rival claims must berejected. Only the eternal Godis worthy of our reverence.

Round three, as Lukerecords the events, involvesanother change of location,this time to the temple inJerusalem. Luke probably hasplaced this encounter as theclimax because it mirrors theflow of events in his gospel. In fact, Luke 9:51 depicts theLord resolutely setting out forJerusalem, where He confrontsthe final attack of Satan in the events that lead to thecross (Luke 19ff.). This, then,becomes a kind of preview ofthat final encounter, waged on “the highest point of thetemple.” This was probably a place on the walls of thetemple area, which dropped

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off more than 400 feet to the Kidron Valley below. The devil’s suggestion is clear: “If You are the Son of God,”he said, “throw Yourself downfrom here” (v.9), although it is not clear whether this wasmeant to be a public act, seen by many, or a private one,witnessed only by Satan.

This time there is an addedtwist from Satan, who attemptsto buttress his temptation byquoting the Bible. If Jesus usesthe Scriptures, so will he! “Forit is written: ‘He will commandHis angels concerning you toguard you carefully; they willlift you up in their hands, sothat you will not strike yourfoot against a stone’ ” (vv.10-11; see Ps. 91:11-12). Satanquotes the Scripture accuratelybut devilishly, tearing it out ofits intended context and usingit to try to turn Jesus awayfrom His Father, not towardHim. This is extremelyimportant for us to remember:There is a way of using theWord of God that transmutes it

into the voice of Satan. It isn’tenough just to use the Bible.We must use it in a way thathonors and respects Scripturefor what it truly is: God’swritten Word.

Satan’s temptation here is a subtle one: “You claim to believe the Bible. Here’s apromise. Step out in faith; takea risk. God will bail you out.”We live in an age that collectsexperiences, even spiritualones. Sometimes ideas arepresented as if the whole thing is about us: about oursuccess, our prosperity, or ourhappiness. “Name it and claimit,” we’re told. Bible verses arewrenched out of context tojustify a self-indulgent lifestyle.God becomes our servant,catering to our whims. And wecan prove it from the Bible!

The Lord’s response isagain direct: “It says: ‘Do notput the Lord your God to thetest’ ” (v.12). And again Hegoes to Deuteronomy (6:16).Testing the Lord is not trusting Him. Scripture is

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not supreme; God is. Pleasedon’t misunderstand. TheBible is God’s inspiredauthoritative Word. But it must be used under Hisauthority, consistent with His character and purpose.

Thus, this thirdnavigational principle isconsistent with the previoustwo: Trusting God is life’ssupreme priority. The threejoin inseparably together:obeying God, worshiping God, trusting God.

The Lord Jesus is unique,and His victorious resistanceover Satan’s temptationdemonstrates His uniquenessand His supremacy. But theaccount of the temptation also points to the abidingnavigational principles thatguided His life and shouldalso guide ours.

The Example Of TheLord Jesus Reveals OurIndispensable Resource:The Word Of God. Theaccount of the Lord’s victoryover Satan’s seduction is rich

with lessons for every Christ-follower. But there are three of special significance when itcomes to navigating life in afluid, unpredictable world.

First, navigating life requires a deep confidence in the Word of God. The Lord Jesus obviously had anauthority not possessed byany human being. In theSermon on the Mount, Heproclaims authoritatively, “Youhave heard it said . . . but Isay to you . . . .” His is not theauthority of a learned rabbi orthe voice of tradition or officialposition. He speaks as the Sonof God, possessing uniquepower and authority overSatan and every other createdbeing. But He does not argueHis case or even declare thetruth in His own name. Rather,His continued response is toquote Scripture. “It is written,”He declared, repeating God’sWord in simplicity and brevity.Nothing could be clearer than the fact that, for Jesus,Scripture is the final court of

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appeal. What Scripture says,God says. Just as significantly,Satan makes no effort todispute the Bible. He maymisuse it, but he nevercounters the Lord’s responsewhen Jesus stands upon theauthority of the Bible.

Few things are moreimportant for a Christ-follower to consider than the attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Word of God and His profoundrespect for its authority. Atevery major point in Hisministry, the Word of God is there. He defines Hisministry by quoting the wordsof Isaiah 61 as His personalmanifesto (Lk. 4:16-21). He builds His most famoussermon around a clarificationof the true meaning ofScripture (Mt. 5-7). Hecondemns the Jewish leaders, not because theyvalue Scripture too highly butbecause they are ignorant ofits clear message (Jn. 5:39-40,46) or because they have

encrusted it with layers oftradition that cover its truemeaning (Mt. 15:1-9). Hedeclares that the Bible is of enduring authority, anauthority that reaches to its smallest part:

Do not think that I havecome to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have notcome to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven andearth disappear, not thesmallest letter, not the leaststroke of a pen, will by anymeans disappear from theLaw until everything isaccomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the leastof these commandmentsand teaches others to do the same will be called leastin the kingdom of heaven,but whoever practices andteaches these commandswill be called great in thekingdom of heaven. For Itell you that unless yourrighteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and

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the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enterthe kingdom of heaven (Mt. 5:17-20).Indeed, “the Scripture

cannot be broken” (Jn. 10:35).Jesus saw the events of His lifeas the fulfillment of Scripture,since “the Scriptures must befulfilled” (Mk. 14:49). Even onthe cross His mind was full ofGod’s Word (Jn. 19:28). Andafter the resurrection, one ofHis priorities was to open theScriptures for His followersand explain “what was said. . . concerning Himself” (Lk. 24:27,32). The Lord Jesus lived God’s Word, loved God’s Word, and wasloyal to God’s Word. Scripturewas His guidebook for His life,His protection in His spiritualwarfare, His authority in Hispublic teaching, and Hisdirective for His God-givenministry. He obeyed itscommands with His actions,and He honored its meaningwith His teaching.

The implications are

obvious and essential. If ourLord and Savior shaped Hislife by Scripture, how couldwe imagine we need it lessthan He did? If we call HimLord and Teacher, how can wehave a lower view of Scripturethan He did? If we are Hisfollowers, how can we rely on it less than He did? Weare no match for the wiles andseductions of Satan, but God’sWord retains its power as thesword of the Spirit, able to putour enemy on the defensive.

One of the first lessons apilot is taught is, “Rely on yourinstruments.” Christ-followersneed to learn the same lessonfrom the Lord Jesus. Ourinstincts, our intuitions, ourdesires speak to us loudly. It istempting to do our own thing,to steer by the moral seat ofour pants. But such a lifestyleis not only foolish; it isdisloyal to our Lord. A Christ-follower imitates his Master byliving out a solid confidence in Scripture as God’s writtenWord. He views the Bible as

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an indispensable navigationaltool for making the dailychoices of life.

A closely related principlefollows: Navigating life requiresa working knowledge of God’sWord. The Lord Jesus not onlyvalued Scripture but also knewit and used it. The passagesHe quotes from the book ofDeuteronomy show His deepfamiliarity with the text ofScripture. His respect for theWord is also shown by Hisrefusal to allow Satan tomisuse the Bible. Scripture has a meaning intended by itsdivine Author; therefore, thetext must be handled properly,allowing God to speak and notmanipulating it to speak ourtruths rather than God’s truth.So He prays for us as Hispeople: “Sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is truth”(Jn. 17:17).

The great need is for Christ-followers to know God’s Wordand to handle it properly. It is impossible to be deeplyaffected by what you do not

know. Are you able to thinkyour way through the Bible’sbasic story line? Do you knowthe great biblical passages that describe most clearly thecentral Christian truths aboutthe nature and character ofGod, the way of salvation, thefundamental moral and ethicalprinciples that shape Christianbehavior, and the basics ofprayer? Have you masteredthe truths of God’s revelationof His heart and mind?

We must handle God’sWord with the respect itdeserves. As Paul exhortsTimothy, “Do your best topresent yourself to God as oneapproved, a workman whodoes not need to be ashamedand who correctly handles the Word of truth” (2 Tim.2:15). A navigator who tries to manipulate his instrumentsinto giving him a reading hedesires rather than the readingthat reflects reality is a fool. Ithas become fashionable toread the Scripture with onlyone question in mind: What

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does this mean to me? Thequestion is mistimed. The first question must always be, What does this passagemean? What is the authorreally saying, under theinspiration of the Holy Spirit?Then, and only then, when I am confident that I havefaithfully understood themeaning of the text, should I ask, What does this thenmean to me? The meaning of Scripture must alwaysdetermine its significance tomy life. Otherwise I shift theauthority to me, and I merelyuse the Bible to validate myopinions. Wise Christianswork hard to develop goodskills of Bible interpretation,just as a navigator trainshimself to use his instrumentscarefully. For in the finalanalysis, lives depend on it.

The third principle, then, follows naturally:Navigating life requires alifestyle of obedience to theWord of God. The goal ofconfidence in the Bible as

God’s Word and of knowledgeof the Bible is conformity tothe truths of the Bible. It doesno good to have accuratenavigational instruments and readings that you do not follow. The Lord Jesusdeclared His life principle in these pithy words:

My food is to do the will ofHim who sent Me and tofinish His work (Jn. 4:34).

I have come down fromheaven not to do My willbut to do the will of Himwho sent Me (Jn. 6:38).

I have brought You glory on earth bycompleting the work Yougave Me to do (Jn. 17:4). At every point, Jesus’ life

was shaped and directed bythe will of His Father. Henavigated life by His Father’sguidance.

The Bible is the Christian’ssextant. It takes the fixedpoint of the triune God, theNorth Star, and brings it downto the horizon to locate us intime and space. It spells out

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for me, sometimes in directcommands but more often inoverarching principles, what itmeans to live as a follower ofChrist. It reveals where I am,often with painful precision,by convicting me of sin. Itpoints me where I need to goby showing me the marriageto which I need to aspire, thecharacter I need to pursue,the behaviors I need to avoid,the habits I need to develop.It holds before me myultimate destination, whichmakes the whole journeyworthwhile, and inspires meto keep on keeping on.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may bethoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).But it is not enough to

possess it; we need to steer by it. The Bible does its God-appointed work only

as it becomes the activenavigational tool in our lives.Only a fool would carefullycalculate his headings andthen throw them overboardand do what comes naturally.That is why the Lord’s brother,James, warns us: “Do notmerely listen to the Word,and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (Jas. 1:22).

The expression “Don’tleave home without it” hasbeen made famous by acertain credit card company.For Christians intent onnavigating a chaotic worldsuccessfully, the term takes on new meaning. Theindispensable navigationaltool for life is God’s Word, the Bible.

hThis booklet is excerpted from True North by Gary Inrig. True Northis published by Discovery HousePublishers, a member of the RBCMinistries family. Gary is a graduateof Dallas Theological Seminary andcurrently pastors Trinity EvangelicalFree Church in Redlands, California.

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