Formed by the Wind: Choosing Your True NorthSample

My wife and I met in the middle of a crisis. We became friends as we were both serving in the same ministry at our church. But to be frank, neither of us was looking for a romantic relationship then.

One Monday morning, right before I walked into a meeting, she texted me asking for prayer because her boss was missing. She was working as a civil attorney at the time. He wasn't responding to phone calls and had missed a court appearance that morning.

The day before, her boss had flown a colleague from Phoenix to Sedona in his single-engine plane. The plane went below the radar 4 miles from the airport and disappeared. The crashed plane and two bodies were ultimately discovered two and a half years later.

She closed down the firm with the help of her boss's father, a well-known attorney. She received 3 months' severance, but she had a problem. With only one year's experience after passing the bar—all office work, no litigation—finding a new job would be a struggle. The financial stress was immense, compounded by student loans.

We formed a bond of trust, vulnerability, and support during this period. We came together as friends, with me offering emotional support. That foundation for friendship ultimately led to our dating and marriage.

The marriage we enjoy today was formed and strengthened by adversity, not ease.

The truth is that easy things don't change us. Adversity teaches us things success cannot. We spend most of our lives living from crisis to crisis. As my father often preached during his 41-year tenure at a single church, "We're all either headed into, in the middle of, or heading out of a crisis."

Crisis becomes the ground in which we bury our roots. We will never be well-rooted without struggle, difficulty, and adversity.

The big idea I want to share with you in this plan is simple but profound: God uses adversity to make us more like Jesus.

After his Father declares his identity over him at his baptism, the Father begins step two of Jesus’ formation. Mark tells us: "At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him" (Mark 1:12-13 NIV).

What does this short passage tell us? The Spirit "drove him out"—the exact phrase to describe exorcising a demon. Jesus ended up in a barren area with few natural resources. Satan tempted him. The kingdom of God that Jesus would advance would oppose and ultimately defeat Satan, and that war began there. Jesus was with wild animals in a dangerous place. Angels ministered to him—he was alone, with no people around.

In summary, Mark paints a picture of adverse conditions, challenging experiences, and isolation for Jesus.

I've noticed something interesting in my life and the Bible: a crisis often follows a decisive moment of clarity with God, as we are challenged to put what we learned in the light into practice as we walk through darkness.

Tomorrow, we'll look at the specific temptations Jesus faced in the wilderness and how they mirror our struggles when facing adversity.