Eddying Out – Spring Thaw

Posted on March 17, 2015 by wamplerp
Sunset in Grand Haven, Michigan

Sunset in Grand Haven, Michigan

This is my 260th post.  So in honor of this occasion and the arrival of spring in Michigan (the thermometer got above 60 for the first time today) I decided this would be a good time to “eddy out”.

I went for a walk to the mouth of the Grand River with my dog Pippin and we joined many other with Michiganders with cabin fever marveling at the amount of ice still out in Lake Michigan and the beautiful sunset.

Watching the sunset and feeling the coming warmth of spring left me feeling very thankful for the warm weather and just thankful in general for God’s presence in moments like these.  Sometimes He feels almost tangible when I am witnessing a beautiful sunset…like God is smiling… and it makes me smile.

Last week was difficult in many ways and I am praying that this week will provide less rapids and more times to rest and recover.  Through all the turbulence of the last couple of weeks God has remained faithful.  He walks with me as I try to walk on water through my study of water and the bible.  I am learning new things every day.

Prayer: Thank You God for meeting every day and providing a welcome breath of spring and an amazing sunset today.

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Flood Insurance

Posted on March 16, 2015 by wamplerp

Here is the fate God allots to the wicked, the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:   However many his children, their fate is the sword; his offspring will never have enough to eat.   The plague will bury those who survive him, and their widows will not weep for them.   Though he heaps up silver like dust and clothes like piles of clay,   what he lays up the righteous will wear, and the innocent will divide his silver.   The house he builds is like a moth’s cocoon, like a hut made by a watchman.   He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, all is gone.   Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest snatches him away in the night.   The east wind carries him off, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place.   It hurls itself against him without mercy as he flees headlong from its power.   It claps its hands in derision and hisses him out of his place. – Job 27:13-23

This passage is part of Job’s final reply to his friends. Job remains steadfast in his faith in God. He is contrasting the life of the wicked with his own life to demonstrate once and for all that he is not a wicked man in God’s eyes  — despite the judgement and condemnation heaped on him by his friends. The word pictures and analogies Job is using in this passage are odd. Why would the house of a wicked man be like a moth’s cocoon or the hut made by a watchman?  I have been puzzling and praying about this most of the day and I must admit I remain perplexed.

Both a moth’s cocoon and a watchman’s hut are very temporary “structures” built for a very limited purpose — not the sort of place built to weather a tempest or a flood.  Maybe what Job is getting at here is the idea that the wicked invest their lives and energy in things that are transitory, whereas faithful followers of God invest in eternal things so that they are prepared when floods come.

However just because one has “flood insurance” does not mean that building near a river that often floods is a good idea….better to build your home in a safe place than to ignore common sense and build in a risky spot.  The spiritual equivalent of “building in a risky spot” is placing ourselves in a position where following God is made more difficult, or even worse, our actions lead others away from God.

“Terrors overtake the wicked like a flood”…this sounds like someone consumed with caring for the things of this world.  I am reminded of the Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12:13-21.  The rich man had so much wealth that he was consumed with building larger store houses for his wealth when in fact that very night a “flood” would come and sweep his life away.

The cautionary tale here is that we need to invest our time, treasures, and talent in building our soul and seeking after God rather than the things of this world that will in the end be worthless and washed away in a “flood”.

Prayer:  God help us to build sturdy souls that are seeking after You.

Posted in Christian Community, Christian Leadership, Christianity, Death and Dying, Discernment, Faith, Following God, Free Will, Job, Obedience, reconciliation, religion, Sin, The Earthly Realm, The Spiritual Realm, Trusting God, wealth | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Clouds that do not Burst

Posted on March 15, 2015 by wamplerp

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe dead are in deep anguish, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.   The realm of the dead is naked before God; Destruction lies uncovered.   He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.   He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.   He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it.   He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness.   The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke.   By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.   By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent.   And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power? – Job 26:5-14

Job is replying to Bildad who has just posed the rhetorical questions “How then can a mortal be righteous before God?” and “How can one born of woman be pure?”  Bildad is wondering how we can be good enough to be in God’s presence.  Thankfully God has resolved this when he sent Jesus to make us all “good enough” to be in his presence.

The water imagery here is rich and intriguing.  Clouds have been used numerous times to represent God and His presence here on earth.  God’s spirit is present on earth as a Godly condensate.  We are but little clouds that can become bigger through the infusion of His spirit.

In this passage God makes it clear that even though the “clouds” are to be infused with waters they will not burst under the weight.  If we are to pursue the cloud analogy, and our role as “little clouds”, then this statement that the clouds will not burst under the weight takes on new meaning.

It is almost as if the rich spiritual living water that flows from God is in some ways incompatible with our earthly bodies and us “clouds” have difficulty holding it.  But God assures us that we will not burst.  He will not give us too much “spirit” to handle.

The boundary between light and darkness is present on the waters at the horizon….the place of the setting and rising sun.  The beach is the vantage point from which we see the rising and setting of the sun.  God churns up the sea at times and we encounter turbulent water and rip currents.  Job is encountering just such water in his life…but thankfully God can tread upon the waves of the sea.

Prayer: God thank You for the Holy Spirit you share with us during light and dark times.  

Posted in Christianity, Covenant, Discernment, Discipleship, Faith, Following God, Job, The Earthly Realm, The Nature of God, The Spiritual Realm | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dark Times

Posted on March 14, 2015 by wamplerp

Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you?   Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?   You demanded security from your relatives for no reason; you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.   You gave no water to the weary and you withheld food from the hungry,   though you were a powerful man, owning land— an honored man, living on it.   And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless.   That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you,   why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you. – Job 22:4-11

Old Eliphaz is at it again poking Job while he is down.  It seems that from Eliphaz’s perspective Job has some skeletons in his closet.  Eliphaz is painting a picture of a rich man that is self-absorbed and careless toward his friends and relatives.  This stands in stark contrast to the way God sees Job and the way Job views himself.  So why the dissonance?

Eliphaz has a posture and perspective that is different than Job and God.  I think this is something like the story about the three blind men who are all touching different parts of an elephant and coming to very different conclusions about the animal they have encountered.  Eliphaz is seeing Job’s predicament with a lens that requires darkness and sin in Job to explain what has happened to him.  In a way Eliphaz has spiritual limburger cheese on this nose which is affecting the “scent” of all his interactions with Job.

So Eliphaz concludes that Job is “in the dark” and covered with flood water — neither of these conditions are inherently bad.  We are in the dark for about half the time here on earth and floods are a natural and necessary part of a healthy hydrologic system.  Just as in our spiritual lives I think it is natural and necessary to experience “dark times” and floods.  These are part of the natural spiritual cycle.

I am reminded of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Frodo is given the Light of Eärendil by Galadriel.  When she gives it to Frodo she says “I give you the light of Eärendil, our most beloved star. May it be a light for you in dark places, when all other lights go out.”  Frodo uses the light many times to counter the effects of the ring he is taking to Mordor and to battle with the spider Shebol.  As a follower of Christ I believe Jesus is to be our “light of Eärendil” when all other lights go out — during dark times.

Job is definitely experiencing a dark time spiritually.  The light of his life, God, has gone below the horizon for a time, and for the moment it does feel very dark for Job.  Eliphaz erroneously concludes that Job is in the dark because he has chosen to be there.  In the end the sun (and the Son) will rise again and Job will be restored.

Prayer: Thank You God for shining during the dark times in our lives. 

Posted in Conflict, Death and Dying, Discernment, Faith, Following God, Forgiveness, God's Love for Us, Healing, Job, Life Together, Redemption, religion, Trusting God | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What does God know?

Posted on March 12, 2015 by wamplerp

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIs not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars!   Yet you say, ‘What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness?   Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’   Will you keep to the old path that the wicked have trod?   They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood.   They said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?’   Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.   The righteous see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying,   ‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.’ – Job 22:12-20

This verse is the logical bookend to a post I did a while back entitled “What can we know“….here we consider “what does God know”. This is very deep philosophical waters…let’s dive in and see what we can discover.

When I first read the statement “what does God know” my first reaction was “everything”.  He is omniscient right?  As I have prayed and reflected about this I am less sure of my initial response.  This is of course a permutation, or transmogrification as Calvin would put it, of the age old debate about predestination versus free will.  Does God know what we will choose before we choose it or can we be “free of God” if we choose?

This passage says that “thick clouds veil God’s sight” of the goings on here on earth.  His position in the heavens makes it hard for him to see things here in the spiritual darkness of earth.  If God is the God who sees us should He not be able to see through vaporous clouds?

I am reminded of the effect of fog on the headlights of a car.  When one is driving on a foggy morning or evening in the dark it does not help to turn on your bright lights because all the light reflects off the fog and you can see even less than when you use the low beams.  Perhaps there is so much spiritual haze between God and us that God shining His light sometimes makes it harder for us to see each other.

The only solution to seeing things more clearly on a very foggy morning is to: 1) wait for the fog to clear; or 2) get closer to the object you are trying to see.  I think that that both of these approaches are valid in our journey toward knowing and seeking God.

Sometimes we simply need to wait out times when we feel “veiled” from God.  That is what Job is doing at the moment.  It is a long and painful process but in the end the fog will lift and he will speak to God face to face — just as one day we will be able to do the same.

The other approach is equally important and that is to “lean in” to God even closer when we feel “veiled” from His sight.  Job is struggling to do this in the midst of the storm he is facing while his “friends” mock him.  This can be hard when we feel like God is responsible for the trouble we are experiencing.  I think if we can get closer and faithfully follow God during these times we will see that God is there and has been there the entire time.

Prayer: God when we are separated by a veil of fog and confusion help us to lean in closer to You.

Posted in Christian Leadership, Christianity, Covenant, Death and Dying, Discernment, Discipleship, Faith, Following God, Free Will, God's Love for Us, Heaven, Job, Love for the Lost, Obedience, reconciliation, religion, The Nature of God, The Spiritual Realm | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Eddying Out – Snowfall

Posted on March 11, 2015 by wamplerp

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI underestimated the amount of work that would pile up like snow while I was away in Africa so I am taking a day to “eddy out” and attempt to catch up a little.  I feel a bit like I am trying to round up rubber ducks with a spoon….The amount of grading and other tasks seems a bit endless at the moment but I will choose my line and take them on one at a time.  Back to the walk on water tomorrow….

Prayer: God help me to prioritize my time so that I can efficiently complete the tasks before me.

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Rushing Waters

Posted on March 10, 2015 by wamplerp

Surely he will have no respite from his craving; he cannot save himself by his treasure.   Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure.   In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full force of misery will come upon him.   When he has filled his belly, God will vent his burning anger against him and rain down his blows on him.   Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.   He pulls it out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver. Terrors will come over him;   total darkness lies in wait for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.   The heavens will expose his guilt; the earth will rise up against him.   A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath.   Such is the fate God allots the wicked, the heritage appointed for them by God. – Job 20:20-29

So Zohar continues to describe in some detail what the fate of the wicked is to be. It is still not clear who this description is meant to describe.

Water shows up towards the end when rushing waters of a flood carry away the house of the wicked. Rivers are interesting things… it turns out they are meant to flood periodically. Flooding is what makes rivers dynamic and alive….characteristics that attracted me and led me to get my PhD studying rivers. A river that never floods is quite rare and actually kind of a boring place.

If one observes the pattern of flooding over time it is possible to predict the probability of having floods of different sizes in any given year. Combine the flood frequency with elevation data and one can make maps of the flooding risk in areas near a river. This is how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) determines flooding insurance rates and building codes.

Most of the time when a home is “washed away by rushing waters” it is because: 1) the home was built in a risky location; or 2) the river has moved as a result of erosion and deposition.

When we place a home in a flood prone area we should not be surprised to one day find that our home has been washed away by rushing waters. In a similar way when we place our bodies and souls in risky places we should not be surprised by the “rushing waters” that they experience. These spiritual floods are not the cause of our spiritual “washing away” but rather a result of the position we have placed ourselves in when the inevitable floods come. Only by planting ourselves and our souls in a correct position relative to the one river can we be “safe”. Floods may come but we will be in a position to withstand them.

Many rivers move over time. Their position changes because the very container they are in, the river bed, is composed of sediments that can be moved by water. In some ways the spiritual realm is like this — although God is not really constrained the way a river is by its bed and banks. God moves according to His plans and purposes which we often have difficulty discerning.

Only by prayer and constant seeking can we remain confident of the position of “the river” and our position relative to it. What is interesting is that the bible seems to suggest that we can actually influence the position and movement of this spiritual river with our prayers….how amazing is that!

Prayer: God help us to position our body and souls so that when rushing waters come we are not washed away.

Posted in Christian Community, Christian Leadership, Christianity, Covenant, Discernment, Discipleship, Following God, God's Love for Us, Job, Obedience, religion, The Spiritual Realm, Trusting God | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

No Joy in Streams

Posted on March 9, 2015 by wamplerp

gsa 136Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue,   though he cannot bear to let it go and lets it linger in his mouth,   yet his food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become the venom of serpents within him.   He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up.   He will suck the poison of serpents; the fangs of an adder will kill him.   He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.   What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.   For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute; he has seized houses he did not build. – Job 20:12-19

Zophar continues his rebuke of Job and in this passage it takes an interesting bend.  I must admit I am still a little confused about who exactly Zophar has in mind when he is describing someone who “will suck the poison of serpents”.  Unless there are issues between Job and his friends that are not obvious or spoken of openly.

It almost sounds as if Zophar is jealous of Job’s previous success and life.  Now that this “abundant” life has been taken from Job Zophar is in essence saying “I told you so”.  Perhaps there were flaws in Job that his friends could see that are not written about in Job?

This does bring up an issue that is challenging for followers of God.  How much abundance or “riches” are OK to own?  This is a very hard question.  I think it is not so much about how much you own or possess, but really how the things you own and possess are possessing you.  Jesus has some strong words for those who possess riches in Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

So does this mean we all need to sell all of our possessions and follow God?  I do not know.  It almost seems as though that is what Zophar would have advocated for Job.  It is interesting that Zophar says that Job will not enjoy the streams and rivers flowing with honey and cream.  He is, in essence, saying you will find it difficult to enjoy God if you have money and possessions (the same thing Jesus said).  What he is not able to discern is to what extent Job has placed his possessions in proper perspective and position relative to God.

Even these close friends of Job are not able to accurately evaluate where his heart is relative to his possessions and God.  This is a good reminder that we need to be careful as we relate to our fellow followers of God we are not imposing our own perspective and posture toward material things.  This is not to say that honest discussion and discernment are not needed between Christians in the area of material things.  It merely means that when we tread on these issues we need to do it with great care and prayer.

Prayer: God help us to approach our fellow followers with grace and humility as we attempt to help one another keep our possessions in proper perspective. 

Posted in Christian Community, Christian Leadership, Christianity, Discernment, Following God, God's Love for Us, Job, Obedience, wealth | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Heads that Touch the Clouds

Posted on March 8, 2015 by wamplerp
Rocky coast of Ghana, west Africa

Rocky coast of Ghana, west Africa

Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:   “My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer because I am greatly disturbed.   I hear a rebuke that dishonors me, and my understanding inspires me to reply.   “Surely you know how it has been from of old, ever since mankind was placed on the earth,   that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.   Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds,   he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’ – Job 20:1-7

I find Job’s friends rather perplexing…why do they feel the need to fix Job? They have some useful insights but they are not able to see the bigger picture or relate to what is going on at the spiritual level for Job.  I guess they, like all of us, are somewhat perplexing people and flawed followers.

Zophar’s “understanding” is that Job is simply mistaken about how he is dealing with the great losses he has experienced.  Zophar thinks he is just being vain and self-centered in his lamentations to God.  I am not sure what to make of his statement that “mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment”.  Surely he is not saying that Job is godless — although from yesterday’s passage, and many others Job, it certainly feels to Job like he has been abandoned by God.

Zophar goes on to describe the pride of the godless reaching into the heavens and their heads touching the clouds.  This is interesting imagery given that for much of the early part of the bible God manifested Himself as a cloud.  So in a way what Zophar is saying is that these prideful people’s heads are touching God.  It seems there are at least two problems with this posture toward God: 1) if only our heads are touching God our hearts remain far from God; 2) by stretching to place our “head in the cloud” we are not allowing God to come to us.

What is the difference between a head connected to God and a heart connected to God (I think we need both)?  I have spent many years of my life acquiring head knowledge and letters after my name.  None of this is helpful when it comes to understanding how to work with a small village in Haiti or Africa.  This requires experience and relationship — connecting heart to heart and soul to soul.  The only way to acquire this is through relationship and time.  The same is true in our relationship with God.  We must have both a heart and head connection — and time.

The second issues is one of availability.  Are we available to take God’s outstretched hand?  If our posture and perspective is such that we are always trying to stretch our heads into the clouds — pull ourselves up by our bootstraps if you will — then we may miss the God who sees us waiting to carry us like a son or daughter.  God has reached out to us through Jesus, but it is hard to grab His hand when one is busy thrusting their head into the clouds.

Prayer: God help us to connect with You with our heads and our hearts with humility and grace.

Posted in Christian Community, Christian Leadership, Christianity, Faith, Following God, God's Love for Us, Job, Love for the Lost, Obedience, reconciliation, religion, The Nature of God, The Spiritual Realm, Trusting God, Wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tears to God

Posted on March 7, 2015 by wamplerp


image

http://www.apa.org/Images/2014-02-cry-why_tcm7-165887.jpg

All was well with me, but he shattered me; he seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has made me his target;   his archers surround me. Without pity, he pierces my kidneys and spills my gall on the ground.   Again and again he bursts upon me; he rushes at me like a warrior.   “I have sewed sackcloth over my skin and buried my brow in the dust.   My face is red with weeping, dark shadows ring my eyes;   yet my hands have been free of violence and my prayer is pure.   “Earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry never be laid to rest!   Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.   My intercessor is my friend  as my eyes pour out tears to God;   on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend.   “Only a few years will pass before I take the path of no return. – Job 16:12-22

Job begins his reply to Eliphaz with “I have heard many things like these; you are miserable comforters, all of you!”. Job shows great restraint and patience given the onslaught of obfuscation being perpetrated by his friends as he sits with his piece of pottery scraping at his sores.  Job is soul sick.  He is weeping openly yet his “prayer is pure”.

His eyes are pouring out tears to God.  Job is not withholding anything from God, even his anguish and disappointment with God.  I think God appreciates it when we are willing to share everything with Him, just as he has given us everything.

One of my favorite parts of this passage is when Job says “My intercessor is my friend”. Even as his cheeks are red from weeping he is able to rely upon this mysterious “intercessor”.

I do not remember this verse, or most of Job for that matter, being referred to as Messianic, but I have navigated through several “riffles” that seem to point toward an intercessor. This is a relatively new thing, at least for the parts of the old testament that I have floated so far.

Prayer: God thank You being my intercessor and my friend.

Posted in Christianity, Covenant, Discipleship, Faith, Following God, Job, reconciliation, Redemption, Trusting God | Tagged | 5 Comments