It has been an exceptionally wet spring here in New England. Creeks have overflowed their banks and in places where there once were walking trails, now there are swamps. Sometimes the only way to cross through the swampy morass is to look for hummocks, tufts of uplifted solid ground upon which to step, to keep from sinking. It is from the solid ground of the hummock that one can scout a next step or at the very least, stay dry above the mire of the bog. 

I recently took a walk with a friend who described what his life looked like; like being on an island in the midst of a swamp. As he shared this, I quickly could picture myself on the trail- turned- swamp, perched on a hummock while attempting to get to the other side.

I asked him what he considered to be his solid ground in the midst of his life’s chaotic circumstances. He said that his hummock was his conviction that God is good. Even if the circumstances were painful, and they were, he was convinced that his belief in God’s goodness kept him from sinking. Life is excruciatingly hard but God is good.

Hummocks. They are stable islands of solid ground.

Another friend spoke of the familiar terrain of her life becoming murky and uncertain. Grave disappointment and disillusionment had crept in and created confusion. All that had seemed secure and predictable was now in question. “But”, she stated, “I know that I can depend on these two things, that God is good and that He is a Redeemer.” Though I find myself in a freefall, these are my safety net. 

Hummocks. They are small islands of secure footing.

Years ago, a friend confided in me upon discovering years of infidelity on the part of her husband. He ultimately left her and the marriage, which left my friend shattered. She said that she felt like she was lost, perched on a small mound in the midst of a vast open field, all alone. Though she was stripped of love, identity, and provision, she refused to let this abandonment steal her ability to worship. “Even if I can only lift one finger, I will still worship.

And even though I feel numb to God, lost and alone, I will wait here and lift my one finger in worship until He finds me.” 

Hummocks. A place of waiting until the Rescuer comes. 

When I was first married, I found myself disoriented. What I had expected to be the happiest season of my life, was actually very difficult. My rose-colored expectations came crashing down. Ps.130 became my hummock.” Out of the depths, I cry to you! O Lord, hear my voice… I wait for the Lord, my soul waits and in His word I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.” God’s word gave expression to my cries and a secure anticipation of clarity, comfort and direction in time to come.

Hummocks. A solid place of promise in the midst of an uncertain landscape.

There are so many others who have relied on hummocks. My friend, who wakes up every morning and struggles to get into her motorized wheelchair, refuses to get sucked into the mire of self-pity. She has said to me many times that if I let myself go there, it is too hard to get out. Each and every day she submits herself to God and gives him thanks for who he is and for what she does have. She tells me that she thanks God now because when she gets to heaven she will no longer be able to bring to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving to honor him.

Hummocks. A chosen place of gratitude and faith. 

Where does one go to find their hummock of stability and perspective? Let me suggest a few pathways.

God – The reality of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit must be the starting place. My human nature will rely upon my own wits and ways to extract myself from the swamps of life. In the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah addresses this tendency saying, “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” Jer.9:23,24

From this position of acknowledging God as the One to be sought, trusted and worshiped, we can employ some of the pathways that He sets out for us to encounter Him and His provisions.

Prayer –  This might seem obvious, but conversation with the God who hears is a starting place. God have mercy on me a sinner is a sample of a simple and yet profound prayer that Jesus used as an example of the posture and prayer that leads one to a hummock of soul.

Silence and solitude – It was in silence and solitude that the prophet Elijah found his hummock after a time of despair when fleeing for his life. Alone, up on the mountain, after hearing  the loud noises of various natural elements, there was a still small voice. This he recognized as the voice of the Lord. Though this story is dramatic, it illustrates the need for attentiveness and stillness to distinguish God’s voice above the clamor that exists without and within. Even Jesus had to separate himself, early in the morning, to align himself with his Father before the demands of the day. In silence and solitude, he found the will and presence of the Father.

Scripture – Well before I understood that the Bible is the Word of God, I experienced how the words of this book revealed to me things about God”s unchangeable nature and His regard toward a fragile human like me. These hummocks of perspective became opportunities to grow both in my relationship with God and with others. Fifty years later, I continue to depend upon the security of the truth of scripture as an accurate, sometimes comforting, sometimes convicting, always pure representation of a reality that lifts me above the circumstances and emotions I might be facing. It is truth, found in scripture, that indeed sets us free. 

Trusted friends – I spoke with a friend today whose husband was just placed on hospice care. After years of battling leukemia and years of trips to Mass General for treatments, both of them are utterly worn out. She shared her grief, her anger, her waves of being overwhelmed, her tears. The dam of emotion had broken open. I too, after a prolonged season of serving, found myself acknowledging that my tank was nearing empty. But in the presence of trusted friends, my friend and I seemed to rise above the emotions of depletion on the hummock of another’s comforting companionship.. 

Repentance, gratitude and service – These are an odd grouping, but each of these have an uplifting, hummock-like effect on the soul. David in Psalm 32 describes his experience when he did not acknowledge his wrong doing.

“When I did not declare my sin, my body wasted through my groaning all the day long.

I acknowledged my sin to You and I did not hide my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’, then You did forgive the guilt of my sin.” v.3,5

The relief of confession and forgiveness is incalculable. Often the swamp is one of my own doing and the pathway out is laid out in hummocks of confession and repentance.

Gratitude, especially when we are hard pressed, is not a natural response. This is why the Psalms describe giving thanks as a costly sacrifice. 

“The one who offers thanksgiving as a sacrifice, honors Me;

The one who orders his way rightly, I will show the salvation of God.” Ps.50:23

This discipline of thanking God for who he always is even in the midst of troubles is a costly and yet beautiful expression of worship. As my friend in the motorized wheelchair would attest, the choice to thank God is a hummock of strengthening perspective above the swamp of self-pity.

While gratitude is an upward action, service is an outward action that gets our eyes off of our own troubles and trials. The prophet Isaiah writes about the impact of serving those who are needy.

“If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desires of the afflicted,

then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.

And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places

and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of

water whose waters do not fail.” Isa.58:10-11

Patience – None of the suggestions above are promises of an instant quick fix to gaining our footing in the midst of one of life’s swamps. They can, but often exercising any or all of these choices requires time and faith before the realization of perspective comes.

David in Psalm 40 captures this thought best.

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.

He drew me up out of the desolate pit, out of the miry bog,

And set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. Ps.40:1-3