Following Jesus when Life Hits the Fan

Four Types of Whirlwinds (Job, 2 Kings)

[This reflection is also posted on my Our Longview blog]

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Years ago, on a week when I had been planning to preach from the Gospel of John, I started the service with a joking reference to the phrase “sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind” because of a small tornado that had gone through the town (Longview, WA) that week. But as I thought about it during worship, I felt led to speak topically about whirlwinds (which the weather had prompted me to dig into that week) instead. Did they still get the teaching from the Gospel of John? Yes, just not that day.

I asked the congregation if any of them had been affected by the tornado. I hadn't been in Longview when it happened, but strong swirling winds knocked down almost every tree in one neighborhood near my home in Oregon.

We so rarely experience tornados in the PNW, and all this atmospheric turbulence made me curious about how the imagery of the whirlwind is used in the Bible and if it might be instructive for us. 

After my study, I would say that there seem to be four types of whirlwinds (tornados) in the Bible, and though they are not measured on the EF (Enhanced Fujita) scale they can often be life-changing.

Have you seen any of these storms in your neighborhood?

 1.    The Whirlwind of Tragedy & Testing

As the wind picks up and the background music intensifies, let's read Job 1:8-11 together—to set the stage. Remember, Job did not know of this at the time…

And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”

Do you remember the wonderful 1972 children’s book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day? If you haven’t read it, you need to do so. This was Job’s “Alexander day,” or perhaps it was Alexander who had a “Job day.”

Job 1:13-19 recounts the story of Job’s really dreadful day. The ruinous hammer blows of traumatic loss fall one after the other with no pause for Job to catch his breath, the reports punctuated only with the thrice-repeated, “While he was yet speaking….”

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Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and there came a messenger to Job and said,

“The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 

While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 

While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 

While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

Let’s review the losses Job suffered and then learned about at that moment.

• The Sabeans (from the south) take 1000 Oxen, and 500 Donkeys, and kill all his servants but one (“and I alone survived”).
• The “fire of God” burned up 7000 of his sheep (“and I alone survived”).
• The Chaldeans (from the north) stole 3000 camels (“and I alone survived”).
• Finally, the whirlwind (from the east) demolished the house and killed his kids. Behind the scenes, we know that it was the devil who destroyed Job’s sons and daughters to get Job to curse God.

If we have any compassion at all then after reading this we are grieving in our hearts for our dear brother Job. If we have any awareness, then reading a passage like this prompts us to ask introspective questions like, “What do we do when things fall apart?” Or “How deep are my roots when dealing with the disappointment of circumstances?”

From the Bible, we learn how Job responded, much to the devil’s chagrin.

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. (Job 1:20-22)

Later, as his suffering only increased, Job responded with agonizing honesty,

 For he crushes    me with a tempest
      and multiplies my wounds without cause;
       he will not let me get my breath,
                 but fills me with bitterness. (Job 9:17-18) 

Centuries, if not millennia, later, Paul and Silas had a pretty difficult day in Philippi and were beaten and jailed most cruelly. In Acts 16:22-34, we read how they responded despite pain, humiliation, and being chained in the smelly darkness of the inner dungeon in Philippi. In that moment of intense and unjust agony, Paul and Silas showed that the roots of their faith were attached to the Rock. Christ was their foundation in such a powerful way that they remained steady even when the prison was shaken to pieces by an earthquake. Jesus said that when we hear and obey his words, then we too are building the “house” of our lives on the rock. 

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them
will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
And the rain fell, and the floods came,
and the winds blew and beat on that house,
but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them
will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
And the rain fell, and the floods came,
and the winds blew and beat against that house,
and it fell, and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:24-27)

In another one of Jesus’ teachings, he gave this spiritual PSA,

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. (Luke 21:33-34)

While none of us look forward to tragedy and testing and the mess it can make of towns and lives, we can prepare our hearts ahead of time so that tests might be passed, and tragedies will only reveal that we trust Jesus. As a result, I pray that we may be able to offer true care and comfort to those around us, and effectively transition the ministry to the next generation (2 Tim. 2:2). On that note, let me say that the second textual function of the whirlwind is one of transition.

2.    The Whirlwind of Transition (2 Kings 2)

In this world, change is the norm. There are countless transitions taking place around us all the time. Leadership change is no different. In 2 Kings 2:1 and 11, we read the narrative about one such transition. It was when Elijah was being taken up in a whirlwind as Elisha watched with dismay, for he didn’t want his mentor to leave.

v. 1 Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.

v.11 And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

Sweet Publishing / FreeBibleimages.org

In this narrative, there are a couple of things that I noticed. First, when faced with Elijah’s impending whirlwind departure, Elisha remained relationally committed to the very end. In this way, he was rather the Samwise Gamgee of the northern kingdom. While he was not in denial, neither would he be dissuaded, nor discouraged by anyone from keeping his repeated vow to Elijah, “As the Lord lives…I will not leave you” (v. 2, 4, 6). Second, instead of being full of himself and confident in his abilities, Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit (v.9) …for he knew he would need it to fill Elijah’s sandals. Third, this whirlwind began a new season of ministry for Elisha (v.11), one in which he would need to trust the Lord more than ever. Thankfully, trusting the Lord is just what we are asked to do, especially when everything around us is changing so quickly.

This brings me to the third biblical function of the whirlwind—judgment.

3.    The Whirlwind of Judgment (God)

People say stupid things… they regularly make bad arguments, they frequently fail to encourage others, and like Job’s “friends,” they occasionally misrepresent God. Times of acute disease, disaster, and destruction are no different. What is one of the first unhelpful and unkind things that religious people say when disaster strikes? They find a person or group to blame as the designated and deserving recipient of God’s righteous judgment.

Why don’t we ever learn the lesson of Job? There is no clear connection between righteousness and worldly wealth, comfort, and power.

It is important to note at this point that God’s cycle of reward and recompense is not
necessarily contained in this life. The sooner we learn this the more frustration we can be spared and the less likely we will say hurtful things to already hurting people.

Remember that comment that launched me down this metaphorical path? It is from Hosea 8:7 and was spoken against the northern kingdom of Israel

For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads; it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield, strangers would devour it.

The metaphor of a whirlwind used for the coming of God’s judgment is found at least seven times in the prophetic writings, including twice in Isaiah (66:15; 5:28). It often happens at the hands of other nations. God promised that he would use other nations to discipline Israel, but then those nations would also be judged for their sins.

These judgments described are more national than personal[1], which is appropriate since nations must be judged in this life. They are not eternal and can’t be judged in the next life. Here are several examples:

• Israel’s sin was judged by Assyria, which was then judged by Babylon
• Judah was also judged by Babylon
• Babylon was later judged by Persia, who was judged by Greece, who was judged by Rome, who was judged by Visigoths, and Vandals, who were eventually defeated by the Byzantines (Eastern Roman Empire) which would be caught between Crusaders and Ottomans…and the cycle continued for nations must be judged in this life.

In Psalm 77:1-10, there is a lament that sounds so much like Job’s lament, I am going to use it to segue into my last point. During his season of trouble, the psalmist declared the anguish of his soul to the Lord, and then in v. 10-11 he began to intentionally remember what God had done for them in the past. This faith-inspiring review culminated in a poetic description of the judgment of God on the oppressor (Egypt) and the liberation of Israel in the exodus. Once again, we encounter the whirlwind metaphor, for it is used in verse 18 to describe a theophanic storm as God’s delivering power was manifested in the Exodus, which in turn reveals something wonderful about the Lord himself.

4.    The Whirlwind of Revelation (and answered prayer)

In what is arguably the longest divine monologue in the Bible—four whole chapters (Job 38-41)—which was appropriately spoken from a whirlwind.[2] “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said…” (Job 38:1 & 40:6). Is it possible that something as fearsome as a tornado can reveal something about the Lord? This moment in Job’s life was revelatory indeed. Job had been crying out for an audience with God, and now he had one. “Dress like a man I will question you, and you will make it known to me.” (Job 38:3 & 40:7)

What is the conclusion of the matter? The lesson is that we, like Job, really don’t know what we are talking about. Our ideas about God fall so far short that we cannot know him if he doesn’t reveal himself to us. And knowledge of God is too much for us to process. God reveals himself and, like Job, we are overwhelmed, and our heads begin to spin! We learn that he is God, and we are not…and that is an exceptionally good thing! And as far as his plans go, God’s end for us is far better than our beginning, even when we don’t see it yet.

I once read a quote attributed to Malcolm Muggeridge that is very fitting, “Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message.”

So what can we learn from our local “parable of the whirlwind”? I am sure that you might have your own list of lessons. Here are some of mine…

• Circumstances will test our faith, so our roots need to be deep, and our houses must be solidly built on the rock by hearing and obeying Jesus’ words.
• Promises can be kept even in times of transition.
• God will judge unjust nations.
• Sometimes God speaks most clearly during the storm.
• I don’t have the full picture of what God is doing.
• God is God, and we are not. [For this I am grateful]

“Since the earliest days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, gratitude has been the defining characteristic of how the people of God abide in the loving community of the Trinity. God provides, and we, at our very best, respond with praise and thanksgiving.” (Slow Church, Smith & Pattison, 177)

The following is a short poem I wrote many years ago that seems to fit this context...

                 A Supernatural Wind

A great, vehement, tempestuous, boisterous wind,
A wind too strong
For us,
Will come
Testing, building, forcing trust,
Sifting and purifying.

Will we be wheat revealed,
Or chaff removed like so much whirling dust?

Will we even now,
Before the Supernatural Wind,
Bend,
In willing worship, a dance of joyful obedience, or
Break,
In stubborn resistance, denial? 

                     © Greg K. Dueker

Asking the Right Question

So, when we face either the literal or metaphorical whirlwinds of life, it is important to ask the right question. Instead of immediately whining with the overused “Why me?” lament, or its cousin, “Why them?” it is more productive to ask the Lord to help you discern what type of whirlwind you are facing. Whether this occurrence or season is a whirlwind of tragedy and testing, of transition, divine judgment (of systems), or revelation. It makes a difference in our ability to respond appropriately. Also, applying Joseph’s hard-bought wisdom (Gen. 50:20-21) brings us a helpful kingdom perspective.

Prayer

Precious Father, Gracious Lord, Life-giving Spirit, please let us hear your voice calling our hearts back to you, and may we respond to your amazing love with love. May our mouths be filled with gratitude, even in storms and droughts that you use to strengthen us and to drive our roots deep. And may our hands and feet be blessed to participate in your mission this week!

---

[1] Prov. 1:27 is the closest to something personal—it is descriptive of Wisdom’s warning.

[2] This was interrupted only by Job’s three-verse answer in 40:3-5.

Is Anyone Among You…? (A Reflection on James 5)

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Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. (James 5:7-10)

Patience is hard for Americans. We want everything immediately because our lifestyle is characterized by hurry. At some point, technology stopped making our lives better and just raised the expectations for how much work we could accomplish in a day. In terms of spiritual formation, we would like to get there today, without continuing to wait and walk through the cycle of seasons—plowing, planting, watering, and reaping. We would like to shortcut the process in our lives and want others to do the same. It is extremely easy to grumble about the lack of maturity in others as a way of distracting ourselves from self-reflection. We have little patience for the failings of others, and so they (and we) have learned to cover them up or withdraw from the community. 

However, we are on this journey together—something that James realized long ago. We are relational creatures made in the image of a relational God. So, we should not be surprised at the “Is anyone” questions in James’ epistle. 

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James 5:13-16, 19-20 

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.

And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. 

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working… My brothers, 

if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

As a seminary professor, I love to interact with students and hold it a high honor when they share something of their story with me. In the last couple of years, in a spiritual formation class, I have asked students to do an exercise entitled, Where Am I and How Did I Get Here? Our Journey with God. While I do not intend it to dredge up the pain and failure of the past, it does do that and exposes it to the light of God’s love.

I am amazed by two things: first, the level of brokenness many students bring with them from their families of origin, and second, their willingness to share their stories with me and others. I just finished reading this year’s batch, and they reminded me of the passages above from James 5 and of Paul’s statement in Romans 12:14-15,

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.                                 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”

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Well, the truth is that there are many “anyone” people—not just around us, but among us, who might share their stories if we would listen without rejecting them or grumbling about them.

The list here in James 5 is not exhaustive but representative, so whether anyone is suffering, cheerful, sick, or wandering, the Spirit encourages us to help them draw nearer to Jesus rather than allow them to think they must shrink back in shame. What other "anyones" might we find in our midst? Those who suffer at the hands of others—the abused, the abandoned, the betrayed, the shamed, the falsely accused, the tormented, the lonely, the misunderstood, the unappreciated, the invisible ones. There are also those who, by their actions or inactions, are the cause of their own suffering and that of others. Compassionate comfort and correction should always be offered to others with great care to follow Christ’s example of not snuffing out the smoldering wick or breaking the bruised reed (Matt. 12:20). Jesus’ desire is to bind up the brokenhearted and set the captives free (Psa. 34:18; 147:3; Isa 57:15, 61:1) which, more often than we know, includes us and those near to us. And in Christ, by the Holy Spirit, this work is done. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, used an affectively descriptive name for God and offered the hope of healing.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Pastors and Christian leaders are no exception. Even in James' representative list—suffering, cheerful, sick, or wandering—only one in four examples might be desirable. We need to have our brothers and sisters come alongside us in our joy and in our pain, in our certainty, and in our doubt, no less than anyone else. If it seems that nobody cares, then check one of the first posts on this blog that touches on Psalm 142, A Cupbearer is a Brother (or Sister) in Arms.

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I would suggest that our spiritual formation/maturity is not about our curating an external “appearance of godliness” but about our enthusiastic response to the love of God that has been poured into our hearts by the indwelling presence of the Spirit (Rom. 5:5). Our repentance is not merely external/behavioral but internal/relational in that it is a return to the Father, Son, and Spirit who loves us completely. 

Is anyone among you… thankful? Yep, I am too.

To This End (A SOAP Journal from 1 Timothy 4)

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In addition to regular articles, I will be posting highlights of some simple SOAP journals that were produced during a regular gathering of pastors to journal, pray, and encourage one another. These are not exhaustively studied as they are generally the work of 20 minutes of reading, 20 minutes of writing, and 20 minutes of sharing with each other what we have written. These brief devotional journal posts will begin in the Pastoral epistles (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus). Hopefully, they will be encouraging to the readers of this blog.

We used the simple SOAP acronym as a devotional guide... which stands for:

• Scripture—what verse or short section caught my attention today?
• Observation—what can I briefly notice that the passage specifically says?
• Application—what will I do differently as a result of having read this today?
• Prayer—what will I ask the Triune God to do for, in, and through me today?

1Timothy 4:7-10

S = “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths.

                  Rather train yourself for godliness;

     for while bodily training is of some value,

                                                        godliness is of value in every way,

      as it holds promise for the present life

                                   and also for the life to come.

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.

   “For to this end we toil and strive, 

              because we have our hope set on the living God, 

                           who is the Savior of all people,

                                             especially of those who believe.

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O = “To this end we toil and strive” …to what end does he refer? Two answers jump out: 
(1) To the end of not departing from sound doctrine and thanksgiving; and

(2) To the end of training ourselves for godliness rather than wasting time with silly, irreverent myths.

Paul encouraged Timothy to labor and strive to stay true and focused. Why does he do this? It is because their hope was set on the Living God revealed in the Son, Jesus Christ, not in ascetic practices such as strange diets, self-improvement techniques, celibacy, genealogies, funky haircuts, and the like. Bodily training in the sense of good health and fitness is not bad, Paul notes that it is of some value, but godliness is of comparably much more value. God alone is our Savior, not our own merit!

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A = Is there some doctrine, popular teaching, philosophy, or practice that has grown up in my mind to be my identity…my salvation? Or do I practically, as well as theoretically, put all my faith and hope in the work of the Living God through Christ? Am I becoming more like Christ or more like the self-focused non-Christian? Do I thank God more enthusiastically? Do I receive everything through the Word of God and prayer? They will keep me on track and up close. This week, without neglecting physical and emotional health, I will put my shoulder to the work of God’s mission in prayer, study, service, and gospel proclamation.

P = Lord, train me continually in the words of the faith and your good doctrine. Let me not get sidetracked or become deceived. Let me follow you with a winsome thankfulness and self-discipline that comes from a heart transformed by love rather than turning aside to follow deceitful spirits and irreverent myths.

Spirituality in the Word

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The following post was originally published by Dr. Ron Frost on his A Spreading Goodness blog. It is reprinted here with his permission...

I’m reading and rereading books on Christian spirituality these days. It comes with my prepping to teach on the subject. With that as context, I’ll offer a brief reflection on two widely appreciated works that promote spiritual transformation.

One, Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline, lists disciplines under the headings of Inward, Outward, and Corporate. The second, the late Dallas Willard’s Spirit of the Disciplines, endorsed Foster but added his own emphasis on the human body as the proper focus of change. Willard saw the actions of Jesus—his nights of prayer and his long fast in the wilderness—as models for we should follow in bringing about life change.

The strength of both works is their shared call for real change: both insist that change starts with reformed behaviors. In their critique and invitation, they challenge habits of offering glittering doctrines and Christian principles that don’t really make a difference. Ideas that tickle ears and stir minds on a Sunday … but that don’t make a difference on Mondays … need to be replaced. Amen and amen!

Yet as much we can say a hearty amen to the goal of life-change, the means for getting there—human initiative—is more than suspect. We may cheer the old Nike slogan “Just do it” or the cute sketch by Bob Newhart, “Stop it!” But the reality of life is that pulling our bootstraps for all we’re worth will never get us airborne. And building a “discipline” to reshape our spiritual profile is always an effort in bootstrap pulling. It just doesn’t work. Not, at least, if the Bible is any measure.

The true key to spiritual transformation is the Spirit. He does any and all changing—both in the Old Testament and the New. And we change as we respond to his work in us.

This was a lesson lost on Nicodemus when he met with Jesus in John chapter three. The Pharisee leader was already “the teacher of Israel”—as Jesus labeled him—and would have been rich with the disciplines of the Pharisaical lifestyle, but he was still as dead spiritually as a forest is still when there isn’t a breeze to stir it. He needed a work “from above” and not more effort from below. Faith is always a response and not a responsibility: with Christ’s words and works in focus rather than our duties and efforts.

Photo by Mark Eder 
on Unsplash

Here’s why I grieve in reading the overlapped discipline lists in the books I mentioned. They promise ladders that lead to heaven—with the disciplines of abstinence and engagement as rungs along the way. So that solitude, fasting, frugality, study, service, confession, prayer—and more—promise to bring us ever closer to union with God. But the ladders never reach heaven.

The approach, in other words, ignores the guidance Jesus and his Apostles offer in the Bible. And it misses the true transforming power: “God’s love has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Ro. 5:5). Paul, for one, spoke of this love as the one effective motivation in ministry in 2 Corinthians 5:14— “For the love of Christ controls us.…”

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The starting point for true spirituality is always from above, birthed in God’s paternity. Jesus made this clear to some erstwhile believers who in the end tried to kill him (in John 8:30-59): “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here.” And the first indicator of life-change is a bold appetite for Jesus and his words. Self-driven faith, on the other hand, reduces him to a sidebar. Why? “It is because you cannot bear to hear my word” (8:43).

Jesus was all about spiritual transformation but he had his own way of doing it: always from the inside out. He starts with hearts. The so-called Rich Young Man in Mark 10:17-22 was a ladder-climbing genius but when Jesus asked him to come and be with him the man balked. The real pathos in the text is in verse 21: “And Jesus, looking at him, loved him…”

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The Bible is a love story. Jesus uses the metaphor of a branch-and-vine bond (John 15) to describe the basis for true spiritual formation—Jesus calls it “fruit”—by calling for us to share his life: “Abide in me and I in you.” And with this, we are to let “my words abide in you” and, collectively: “Abide in my love.”

So, if we need a counter analogy to this love story, consider a loveless marriage. Where the partners have lost their first love and are now driven by duties—by the “disciplines of marriage.” I’m a lifelong bachelor and even I know the answer to this notion: “Go find a marriage counselor, quick!”

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Let’s take up, instead, the pursuit of Jesus, who loves us and gave up his life for us. His heart is a transforming center that brings the sort of joy and peace only a living relationship offers.