18

But God Was Not in the

Waves and Waterfalls

“I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of…a humble spirit…”

     We have been talking about the spiritual environment of the developing and growing sons of God here on earth.  We have talked about their spiritual world their Father has provided here on earth. They must look to the invisible and not the temporary vistas here on earth if they are to find the true way to immortality and godlike-ness. The earth and the world system sprawling upon it are constant lures to the sons of God and must be overcome.  On a recent vacation we experienced some of this. 

     The crashing, craggy coastline of Big Sur was luring us to stay and embrace her beauty.  The wonder of Yosemite’s waterfalls and canyon bluffs were tempting us to remain in Nature’s most revered cathedral.  Even the obscene lights of Las Vegas made a pathetic attempt to put Linda and I under their spell. 

     But God was not in the whispering waves.  Nor was He found in the echoes of Yosemite’s expanses.  And He certainly was not in Vegas, who appeared as a painted high dollar hooker who had just had her nails done.  Such was our vacation—seeing some of God’s most breath-taking creation and some of the gaudiest of man’s artifice and architecture.

     Our main objective, however, was to see our daughter Sara.  We drove straight out to the Monterey Peninsula in time for the Memorial Day weekend last year—a weekend we could spend with her.  She was in the Navy there, studying Chinese at the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio in Monterey.  We had a great time visiting, camping, hiking, and sightseeing at two different state parks on the Big Sur coastline.

Big Sur—A World Class Setting

    It was truly a world class setting.  For people from all over the world were there.  Without exception they were all being wooed by the charms of central California coastline.  And in a few short days, I was thinking at the time, all of them would stumble back to their familiar surroundings and go back to the rut of their daily existence.

     And yet, the joy and exhilaration of the natural earth is real and full of wonder and should be experienced by all.  But it is only temporary, as evidenced by the temporary effect it has on mankind.  The joy derived from nature is only temporary, for nature itself is only temporal.  It is not permanent.  It is shifting, volatile, changing, not to be trusted.  The four seasons confirm this.

     After four delightful days with Sara, we drove across the San Juaquin Valley to Yosemite National Park.  The Valley is a wonder in itself, especially to one living in the Ozarks where one is blessed to have six inches of top soil to plant a garden.  For I saw arroyos cut through 12 feet of rich black top soil, and it was still going on down.

The Prettiest Part of God’s Footstool

     But it is at Yosemite that God’s natural creation shines the brightest.  The Yosemite Valley’s waterfalls, cliffs, rivers, and giant redwoods and pines should be seen by everyone, for it is a truly beautiful place in the earth. Nevertheless, it is only the prettiest part of God’s footstool.  For He said, “Heaven is my throne; earth is my footstool.”  Earth is merely the place where He places His feet, where He walks around.

     But what does man do? Man either exploits the earth—loots it, rapes it, plunders it—or man worships it.  The exploiters of the earth serve themselves of her physical treasures, looting her wealth for their own vain worship of themselves.  The environmentalists, on the other hand, worship the earth itself and thereby worship themselves as the noblest of the human usurpers of the god Nature.

     Both are sadly mistaken.  We humans must see past what our eyes see here on earth.  We must see through the enchantment of earthly vistas and get to the Invisible One who created all of this.  That is Adam’s calling—to be master over the creation in God’s stead—or rather to have God live fully within him and have Him walk on this earth in the earthly body of Adam.  Because man’s perspective is earthly and flawed, he cannot see his position on earth as God intended it.  Man callously leaves his Creator out of the picture and does not see the earth as a place for the Invisible Spirit to walk on—in man!  He rather either selfishly exploits the earth or worships it.

     Finally, reflecting on our vacation, I looked in the waves, but God was not in the waves.  And I looked into the majestic rocks and canyons and mighty trees and roaring rivers, but God was not in them.  He created them, but they are not Him, nor is He in them.

     Yahweh taught this lesson to Elijah on Horeb, the mount of God.  He was not in the “great and strong wind.”    Neither was He in the earthquake and fire that followed—all  things  of  the  earth.   But then came a “still small voice”  (I Kings 19:11-12).

     So if He is not in nature, then where is He?  For thus saith  the  high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Isaiah 57:15.  He is Spirit, dwelling in a spiritual dimension called heaven, and He has given a portion of His Spirit to those who have renounced and repented from their earthly carnality and sin.  He dwells in them and refreshes them daily.

     And these He dwells in are in His children, His delight, His love.  They will be His witnesses.  They will show the rest of the world what their Father is all about.  And these sons will walk humbly before their invisible Father.  They will walk because of something that their spiritual Father has delivered to them.  They will walk by His very own faith—not theirs.