Colors

July 17, 2025 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

“Over the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth and cover that with the durable leather and put the poles in place.”
Numbers 4:11 (NIV)

For Father’s Day this year, our daughter Taylor arranged for the two of us to have our portraits taken with a special camera that purports to capture the color of the energy that surrounds a person, commonly referred to as an aura. It was a fun and fascinating experience (there’s a link in the episode details to today’s post at tomvanderwell.com where you can see the results). I was pretty much covered in deep blue that faded to white above me and down the center of my chest. Taylor was surrounded with warm orange and scarlet. Together, the warmth of Taylor’s orange wrapped around us while my blue covered her.

A photo triptych showing three portraits: the left image features a man with a deep blue aura, the center image shows the man with a woman, enveloped in warm colors, and the right image depicts the woman with a warm orange and scarlet aura, smiling.

Here’s the summary of the interpretations.

Tom:
Highly intuitive and emotionally intelligent.
Likely introverted or reflective by nature.
Possibly a teacher, guide, or someone others come to for insight
On or seeking a deeper life path—spiritually, creatively, or intellectually.

Taylor:
Charismatic, confident, and emotionally intuitive.
Naturally creative—may excel in arts, communication, or leadership.
Likely very warm and approachable but with a fierce inner drive.
Possesses a radiant personal energy that can light up a room or inspire those around her.

Together:
The tryptic reveals a beautiful portrait of two strong individual spirits who meet in a space of warmth, love, and deep connection. Your daughter’s joy and warmth bring brightness to your contemplative depth, and your centered presence seems to ground her radiant energy. The central photo is not just a mix of colors—it’s a visual metaphor for a balanced, evolving, and mutually enriching relationship.

Fascinating. I think it described each of us and our relationship rather well.

I share this to make one simple observation. Stick with me here.

God is creator of all things, including the universe, its energy, and the entire spectrum of colors it contains. By the way, there are more colors than our eyes can see. Many people who have died and had Near Death Experiences (NDEs) report that in eternity everything was more colorful than they could possibly imagine and there were colors they’d never seen before.

As my followers may get sick of me repeating, God’s base language is metaphor. God layers everything with meaning. Therefore, it does not surprise me that color has meaning.

In today’s chapter, God has Moses and Aaron count the number of men between the ages of 30-50 in each of the Levite clans, then gives them instructions and responsibility for preparing and carrying the traveling tent temple known as the Tabernacle for transport. They are making preparations, after all, for their journey into the wilderness. God commands that the Ark [cue: Raiders of the Lost Ark Theme], the altar, and all the articles used in the sacrificial worship system are covered in cloth, then durable leather for safety during transport.

What struck me as I read today’s chapter is that God designated different colors of cloth for different items of the Tabernacle. Why? Because colors have meaning. For the ancient Hebrews:

Blue is associated with heaven, divinity, and God’s presence.
Red/Scarlet is associated with blood, sacrifice, and atonement.
Purple is associated with royalty, sovereignty, and nobility.

Together, these colors were metaphorical of God and His character. In fact, they still represent the same things today as they did back then. I have a purple shirt and the last time I wore it someone made a passing reference to me being royalty.

In the quiet this morning, as I meditated on these things, I was reminded that to this day I know that women will have their “colors done” to help determine the palette of colors in which they look best. Again, I find it fascinating and it made me wonder if there is possibly a connection between the color of the energy a woman emits and the colors she physically looks best in. It wouldn’t surprise me. Our creative God does things like that, layers them with connection and meaning we don’t even think about.

I head into my day today paying a little more attention to the colors in creation and being grateful to God for caring about such details. The words of Jesus are ringing in my heart:

“See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Promotional graphic for Tom Vander Well's Wayfarer blog and podcast, featuring icons of various podcast platforms with a photo of Tom Vander Well. — These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!

Chapter-a-Day

Echoes in the Ancient

July 16, 2025 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

“Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests; anyone else who approaches the sanctuary is to be put to death.”
Numbers 3:10 (NIV)

Just a few weeks ago, Wendy and I had the rare joy of having our entire family with all our grandkids together in our house for a couple of days. Having all three grandchildren on my lap was deep, unspeakable joy. As they grow and begin to ask all of the simple-yet-profound questions that children ask, I have found myself reminded of both the wonder and perplexity with which wee ones engage this world.

Whenever this chapter-a-day trek wanders into the ancient texts, I am struck once again by how foreign and strange some of the stories, events, and commands. It is not unlike a child encountering strange stories for the first time. At least, I have always endeavored to approach them with the curiosity and wonder of a child. Too often, I find that the texts quickly dismissed, discarded, and ignored as only the closed, educated mind of adults do. After all, Jesus said that unless I change and become like little children I’ll never see the Kingdom of Heaven.

As always, I am also reminded that these stories and events happened when human civilization was in the toddler stage of development. The Hebrews were recently freed slaves, uneducated, ignorant, and without any knowledge of how to do life on their own as a people and a nation. Despite it being a people and a time that is strange to me, I see echoes of my own stories and experiences on this life journey. That is where I typically find the applicable lessons.

In today’s chapter, there continues to be a whole lotta countin’ going on, thus the title of the book Numbers. Today’s counting was of the Hebrew tribe of Levi who are appointed by God for being priests and caring for God’s traveling tent temple called the Tabernacle. Two echoes from my own human experience.

I was in my teens when the tragic reality of human abduction and trafficking came into the spotlight. Sadly, it started with a boy delivering papers in my hometown of Des Moines. It happened just a year or two after I had been a paperboy in the same city. Suddenly milk producers began putting ads for missing children on milk cartons trying to bring awareness to the cause. Of course, parents used this daily reminder children were given as they poured milk on their Fruit Loops. Parents warnings to be safe, walk with friends, and get home on time were immediately followed with, “You don’t want to end up on a milk carton.”

First, right up front in the chapter God reminds the people of the tragic story of Nadab and Abihu. They were sons of Aaron who, right after God’s instructions for worship were given in the book of Leviticus almost immediately refused to follow the instructions and died. God then goes on to repeat, not once but twice, that if anyone other than Moses, Aaron, or the Levites approach the holy Tabernacle where God’s presence resided, they would end up like Nadab and Abihu. Father God is warning His toddlers, “You don’t want to end up like Nadab and Abihu!”

Which leads to my second observation. The mystery, pageantry, and spectacle of the ancient worship served for helping this fledgling humanity to understand the chasm between human and the divine. It provided metaphors for understanding spiritual concepts deeper than could be fathomed at the time. Surprisingly, there is no real record of Jesus giving detailed instructions for worship. Even the sacraments of Communion and Baptism come with nothing more than a command to do them and very little detail. Jesus never instructed that church buildings be erected, He gave no order for worship, did not say one word about choirs, music, pews, altars, robes, head coverings, or the like. Yet, over time Jesus’ followers adapted and adopted a vast range of worship traditions. As a child, I was told that the altar of our Methodist church was “holy” like the Tabernacle in today’s chapter and only our Reverend could approach and stand there. They stopped short of the Nadab and Abihu warning of sure death for doing so, but the sentiment was definitely there.

Of course, Jesus said nothing about those things. In fact, the only thing He really said about a “sacred” building was when He told His followers that the Temple would be reduced to rubble. This leaves me to observe and wonder why over the centuries, Jesus’ followers have adopted ancient religious traditions that Jesus Himself did not command nor instruct. Personally, I have come to the conclusion to embrace the reality of different traditions in all of their forms. I learn things from all of them, both positive and negative, and in the end I must follow God’s Spirit within me to inform my own personal choices.

Nevertheless, in the quiet this morning I see echoes of the same humanity wrestling with the same relationship with the divine today that the Hebrews were wrestling with in today’s chapter. It echoes the reality that I continue to work out the mysteries of father-son relationship with my own dad the same way I was doing so when I was a toddler. It just looks different today than it did fifty years ago as I and our relationship have developed with time.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Ordered Procession

July 15, 2025 Tom Vander Well 2 Comments

So the Israelites did everything the Lord commanded Moses; that is the way they encamped under their standards, and that is the way they set out, each of them with their clan and family.
Numbers 2:34 (NIV)

There is always a subtle tension in our household. There is a ying and yang to the way Wendy and I operate, the way we were created, and the way our brains are wired. It can be at once exasperating and beautiful. For the most part, you’ll find our home well-ordered. There is a place for everything and everything in its place. It doesn’t take long to know the patterns, where to find things, and the places they belong. That’s Wendy. I, on the other hand, tend to bring chaos to that order. This isn’t out of antagonism or ill-will but rather from simply not being wired the same way. Our brains work differently. Wendy is Rembrandt and I’m Pollack. She’s Bach and I’m Bird. The truth is that I love order. In fact, I tend to find it in places others can’t see it while being blind to it in plain sight.

Chaos. Order.

That’s how the Great Story begins.

Formless, empty, dark, and deep chaos.

Then God brings order in seven days. Six days of work. One day of rest.

Then there is a serpent, a lie, temptation, desire, disobedience, shame, and blame.

Order gives way to chaos.

For the rest of the Story, there is an ebb and flow between order and chaos. It has been observed that when God delivers the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, the 10 plagues mirror creation in reverse order. Egypt, the greatest, most ordered and glorious human empire on the earth descends from order to chaos before Pharaoh finally relents and lets the Hebrews depart.

Out of the chaos, God leads the Hebrews into something new. He gives them a detailed and orderly blueprint for doing life together in Leviticus. Now, as they make preparations to set out on their wilderness journey, God provides order to both their camping and their procession. In both walking and resting there is a pattern to be followed. Every member is part of a tribe and every tribe has its place in the camp and in the parade.

God loves order.

In fact, what most casual readers fail to notice is that even today’s chapter is written to reflect the order of the Hebrews camp described in the text. God in His tabernacle are at the center of the camp. This is mentioned smack-dab in the middle of the chapter. It’s called a chiasm. The most important bit is in the center, and everything else is symmetrically structured around it.

God loves order.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself meditating on the fact that there are patterns even in the seemingly randomness of nature. I find it meaningful that the first thing we find God doing at the beginning of the Story is turning chaos to order. Because, along my life journey, I’ve observed that no matter how ordered I try to structure my personal, earthly human empire, the chaos of my own failings, blind spots, and foolishness eventually plagues me. Who will set me free from the chaos of my own making?

Thank God, He’s been doing it from the beginning. He’ll be doing it to the end. He’ll be doing it when He begins everything anew. He is my hope and salvation from the chaos of my own making, and the chaos of this broken world.

Time for my procession through another day of this life journey. I may not see it clearly, but I know God has a plan, just like He gave to the Hebrews in today’s chapter. It’s who He is. As I proceed, I take comfort in that.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Book Summary List, Chapter-a-Day

Numbers (Jul-Sep 2025)

July 14, 2025 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

Each photo below corresponds to a chapter-a-day post for the book of Numbers published by Tom Vander Well in July through September 2025. Click on the photo linked to each chapter to read the post.

Chapter-a-Day

Preparations

July 14, 2025 Tom Vander Well 2 Comments

[God said to Moses:] “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. You and Aaron are to count according to their divisions all the men in Israel who are twenty years old or more and able to serve in the army.”
Numbers 1:2-3 (NIV)

Just last week in our chapter-a-day trek through Philippians I mentioned The Exodus Paradigm. Briefly stated, the story of God leading His people out of slavery, through the wilderness, and into the Promised Land is a paradigm that repeats itself over and over again in the Great Story. As a disciple of Jesus, I see this paradigm in my own story. Once a slave to sin, Jesus freed me, but I still must wander through the wilderness of this earthly journey until one day I “cross Jordan” and enter the eternal Promised Land.

As I took a look at all of my chapter-a-day series by book, I couldn’t help but notice that the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy are missing from recent years, so I thought it’s a good time to explore the original Exodus Paradigm. Starting this morning, we journey back in time and enter the story as Moses and the Hebrew tribes have been camped below Mount Sinai. In Exodus God heard the cries of the Hebrew people from their slavery in Egypt and delivered them. In Leviticus God gave Moses The Law and instructions for setting up a radical new way of doing life together, differently than any of the other people groups around them.

Now, God is going to lead His people through the wilderness to a land He has promised them.

I’m not much of an outdoorsman. I have certainly camped, hunted, and done my share of fishing in my youth, but it’s not something that I ever got into in a serious way. I have done enough, however, to know that any kind of serious journey into the wilderness requires careful planning and preparation. You don’t just throw on a backpack and go. Especially when wandering through wilderness with dangerous wildlife, you have to be prepared for unexpected encounters with very dangerous wildlife. I suddenly have images from the scene in The Revenant when a grizzly bear attacks Leo Dicaprio running through my head.

The opening chapters of Numbers are God’s preparations for the wilderness journey His people are about to take. In fact, the title “Numbers” traditionally comes from the census, or numbering, of the people that happens multiple times in the story. In today’s first chapter, God has Moses take a census of the total number of fighting men available from each tribe.

The world of the ancient Hebrews was especially brutal and violent. Large empires like Egypt were beginning to emerge and swallow up entire regions and people groups in order to grow their empire. The Hebrews have just experienced the Egyptians chasing after them and God delivering them. There’s no promise that the Egyptians won’t recoup and come after them again. Plus, there’s no telling what violent warring people groups or communities that they will encounter. A giant, wandering nation like they are will be seen as an immediate threat, and they can fully expect to be attacked.

They have to be prepared.

In the quiet this morning, this brings me back to the metaphorical wilderness journey that is the spiritual journey through this earthly life. We just trekked through Paul’s “Prison Letters” and were reminded of the many trials and challenges he endured. I’m thankful that my life journey has not included such ordeals, but that’s not to say I don’t have my own share of challenges and trials. You do, too. We are wandering through a fallen world filled with evil, sin, and tragedy. Jesus guaranteed His followers that we would face many kinds of troubles. He said that the world would hate us the way it hated Him. I can bank on that.

Which leads me to ask: How prepared am I?

As I meditated on this question this morning it struck me how often people are surprised and unprepared when life throws them a wicked curveball. Yet, God tells me again and again to expect challenges, trials, tragedies, and tribulation along this earthly wilderness journey. They will happen. When they do happen, I’m told to rejoice, to praise, and to consider it all joy in the midst of them.

Last week in our trek through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he told the believers to “put on the full armor of God” in preparation for the spiritual dangers awaiting us on this journey. It’s no different than what God was asking the Hebrew tribes to physically do in today’s chapter.

Paul tells me that what I need to be spiritually prepared for the dangers awaiting me on my own wilderness journey are the following:

Righteousness that guards my heart like a breastplate
Truth as a belt around my waist
Preparedness of peace as my hiking boots
Salvation as a helmet protecting my precious head
Faith as a shield
The Word of God as a sword

How well I navigate this earthly journey has a lot to do with how spiritually prepared I am each day. Which is what my mornings in the quiet and this chapter-a-day trek has always been about.

Lace ‘em up, friend. A new day and a new work week lies ahead.

Are you ready?

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Words for “The Anxious Generation”

July 11, 2025 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

The paper is so old that it’s faded. I noticed just the other day how it’s showing the wear of time. There’s a large square section that is discolored because of the years it hung where a small ray of sunlight hit it in the same place every day.

When you open the door to my office there hangs a framed piece of paper with three verses written out in three different types of calligraphy. The three verses are among the first I memorized as a young man, and they have spiritually served me more than I can capably communicate along my earthly journey. They were a gift from my brother who was taking a calligraphy class when I was graduating from college almost forty years ago.

One of the verses is from today’s chapter, the verses I pulled and placed/mentioned at the top of today’s post/podcast.

One of the most popular and influential books in the past year or two has been The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. It tells of the research showing that today’s emerging generation is experiencing unprecedented levels of anxiety and mental illness. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and meditating on this for multiple reasons. First, the customer and market research my company, Intelligentics, is doing on a regular basis reveals the same things on which Haidt is focused in his scholarly research. Also, I have so many young people in my life, my family, and my circles of influence whom I love deeply. My desire for them is not to be mired in anxiety, but to experience the “peace of God, which transcends all understanding.”

In the quiet this morning, I found myself wondering what I would say to this anxious generation. I think Paul has some sage wisdom for those whose minds and hearts are open to receive it.

First, Jesus is alive, very real, and He offers true hope. Paul experienced a transforming relationship with Christ. I have experienced and am experiencing it, too. If you pay attention, you’ll notice that the world very much wants to dismiss, diminish, and deny this. If you’ll give Jesus a chance, I believe you’ll experience a transformation, as well.

Next, there is power in the words I pasted above. I memorized them. Countless times, in the midst of anxiety, I have recounted them, whispered them, prayed them, thought them, and stated them over and over and over again. I beg you to give it a shot. Can’t hurt, might change your life.

Paul goes on to tell the believers in Philippi “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation…I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Our world and our economy are based on a system designed to keep us perpetually discontent with ourselves, our lives, our bodies, our circumstances, and our status. It does this because it wants to sell us things and keep us always reaching for the never-ending “more” it claims to offer that will make us happy. There are forces at work that want you to be anxious. Anxious and fearful people are much easier to manipulate and control. Paul, however, discovered a secret that Jesus taught:

“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.

“Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”
Matthew 6:25-34 (MSG)

Finally, Paul told the believers to confine our thoughts to things that are:

True
Noble
Right
Pure
Lovely
Admirable
Excellent
Praiseworthy

The next time you find yourself scrolling, I encourage you to ask how much of what you see, hear, and read as you scroll fits these adjectives. May I humbly and respectfully suggest that perhaps there is cause-and-effect at work creating “the anxious generation.”

I was a young man when the personal computer came to be. When I was in high school we had a “computer club” for the very first time in history. The very first thing that I learned in computer club, the first lesson everyone was taught about this emerging technology was this: “Garbage in, garbage out.”

Underlying all of Paul’s sage instructions is a simple truth:

I have free will. I choose.

As a young man I chose to believe words written on what is now faded and discolored paper that reminded me daily not to be anxious but that instead I could pray, be thankful, and seek after things of eternal worth. They served me well. They will serve you well, too.

I’m praying for you.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Time to Forget

July 8, 2025 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV)

Over the past few years, Wendy and I have discovered a difference in the way we perceive and approach life. As we have dug into it, it’s allowed us to learn about ourselves and to better understand one another. It has to do with our orientation to time.

I have a strong orientation towards the past. I’m a lover of history. I have spent much of my life digging into I and my family’s genealogy. As I contemplate current events, I tend to seek the past for context. Even as I look to the future I tend to look to the past for patterns that might inform where things are headed.

Wendy, on the other hand, is very much future oriented. Her brain is constantly looking a step or two ahead and it informs both her present tasks and their relative priorities. Life for Wendy is a constant anticipation of what is next, while I give little thought to it.

Our very different orientations towards time often creates clashes in how we function both independently and in relationship. Knowing these differences has allowed us to be more empathetic and understanding towards one another.

This past week our local gathering of Jesus’ followers focused our thoughts on Jesus’ words in the Lord’s Prayer: “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” Wendy and I spent some time talking about forgiveness and resentment, exploring whether or not we have truly forgiven those who have hurt us in the past.

As we continued our conversation, Wendy began quizzing me about a couple of individuals in my own life story who have been the source of considerable struggle for me. As we discussed these individuals and I have continued to meditate on my relationship with them and their impact on my life, it has struck me that my time orientation towards the past might lend itself to unhealthy thought patterns.

In today’s chapter, Paul references his own past and as a disciple of Jesus he had a lot of baggage. Once the most rabid enemy of Jesus and His followers, Paul had the blood of martyrs on his hands. Paul oversaw the stoning of Stephen. It is unknown how many other individuals suffered, were imprisoned, or died as a result of Paul’s zealous persecution of the Jesus Movement, but it is certainly likely that at least some of the opposition he constantly faced linked back to the suffering he once inflicted on others.

This came to mind as I read Paul’s words in today’s chapter:

“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.“

I happen to be entering a new stretch of my life journey. Old things are passing away. New things are emerging. As this happens, I am reminded by Paul’s words that I need to spiritually strain against my natural time orientations which often keep me mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually mired in what lies behind. There are some things on the road behind me that I need to forget in order to focus my mental, emotional, and spiritual energies on straining toward what is ahead.

Fortunately, I’m married to a partner whose natural orientation toward time can help me with that.

I will be on the road for a few days on business. I plan to return on Friday. Have a great couple of days.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

The Exodus Paradigm

July 7, 2025 Tom Vander Well 3 Comments

…rather, [Jesus] made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
Philippians 2:7 (NIV)

Like millions of people around the world, Wendy and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching The Chosen, a retelling of Jesus’ story by Angel Studios. We have told countless people who are interested in watching the series to make sure you gut through the first three or four episodes. We are not the only ones who found the opening episodes of the series a bit slow. The action and the story don’t seem to really get rolling until you’re a few episodes in.

About a year ago before season four was about to drop, Wendy and I went back to binge the first three seasons in preparation. Guess what? Suddenly, the first three or four episodes came entirely to life for us. They were amazing in ways we couldn’t see until we knew more of the story. There was so many meaningful story seeds planted in those first few episodes that wouldn’t germinate and take root until later episodes and seasons. We could only see them once more of the story had bloomed.

That’s how it goes with good stories, and the Great Story.

One of the things that I’ve experienced on this chapter-a-day journey, and through my perpetual meditations on the Great Story, is that I have come to realize that entire sections of the Story that I once dismissed or largely ignored are essential to understanding the entirety of the Story itself, as well as the story God is authoring in me.

For example, the Exodus story was once simply a Charlton Heston epic movie I got to stay up past my bedtime to watch as a kid every Easter. Even after becoming a disciple of Jesus and reading my way through the entire Great Story, I didn’t see the paradigm. By the way, I credit The Bible Project for helping me really see it.

And, now that I see it, I realize that it’s everywhere.

The Exodus paradigm is simple:

The setting is slavery.
There is a road out of slavery.
There is a road through the wilderness.
There is a road into a Promised Land.

In today’s chapter, Paul shares one of the most famous passages about who Jesus was on a cosmic spiritual level. As I read the passage for the millionth time in the quiet this morning, I found the Exodus story hiding in plain sight. Let me unpack it.

Paul writes,

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.

There’s the setting for Jesus’ own Exodus. He chose to empty Himself of the advantages equality with God and become a human, by very nature a servant. The Greek word also translates as “slave” in English.

And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

The road out for Jesus was being obedient in suffering and dying sacrificially for humanity. The road through the wilderness was not only through the suffering, but it was also through a wilderness we don’t talk much about except perhaps on a day called Holy Saturday between Good Friday and Easter. The road through the wilderness was through the grave. Jesus descended into hell and proclaimed “freedom” to those spirits who were imprisoned there (1 Peter 3:19).

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

The ascension was Jesus road into the Promise Land, to His eternal Kingdom where a throne awaited at the right hand of the Father Almighty.

So, in the quiet this morning, I am reminded that all good stories are a reflection of the Great Story. This means that my story is as well. Once enslaved in my sin, Jesus offered me a road out if I would surrender my life to Him. For almost 45 years He has led me through the wilderness that is my earthly journey. Like the Hebrew tribes, I’ve had to learn to trust God for my daily bread, resist the temptation to return to my chains, and have faith to follow Jesus into surprising and even scary places. Ultimately, He has promised that at the end of this wilderness I will cross through the Jordan River and into the Promised Land where He waits to welcome me to my new home.

The road out.
The road through.
The road in.

Time to lace ‘em up and hit the road through another Monday and into the wilderness of another work week.

Here we go!

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Book Summary List, Chapter-a-Day

Philippians (Jul 2025)

July 7, 2025 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

Each photo below corresponds to a chapter-a-day post for the book of Philippians published by Tom Vander Well in July 2025. Click on the photo linked to each chapter to read the post.

Chapter-a-Day

Trauma Bragging and Paul’s Chains

July 3, 2025 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.
Philippians 1:12 (NIV)

There has been a trend of late on social media. Generation Z are those generally born from 1997 to 2012, so individuals around 13-28 year olds today. The trend that has been observed is that of this generation going onto social media and oversharing about the trauma they have or are experiencing in their lives. It’s been dubbed “trauma bragging.” It dovetails with recent scholarship revealing that this “anxious generation” has experienced and is experiencing unprecedented levels of mental health issues. This coincides with Gen Z being the first generation to grow up with smartphones. The first iPhone launched when the oldest of Gen Z turned 10 years old.

I have been curiously following this unfolding conversation. In part, it is because as the elders of Gen Z arrive in their late 20’s they are changing the consumer landscape in major ways. My company, Intelligentics, has been doing customer research for clients for almost 40 years and we are seeing radical shift that impact companies in everything from marketing to sales and customer support.

What has been fascinating for me to observe is that, in general, Generation Z has arguably grown up as the most safe, healthy, and affluent generation in the history of human civilization. Yet they are experiencing record levels of mental health issues and bragging about the trauma of their lives on Tik Tok. I confess that this has me scratching my head, but it also has me desperately trying to understand.

Today, our chapter-a-day trek returns to Paul’s letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Philippi. We’ve been making our way through Paul’s “prison letters” (e.g. Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians) and Philippians is the only one left.

In each of these “prison letters” Paul references his chains, typically referencing that he is “in chains for Christ.” He does so in today’s chapter, the opening of his letter to the followers of Jesus in Philippi. He also states that his suffering has “served to advance” the Message of Jesus and has had the positive effect of making others more confident in their faith and in sharing it (vss. 12-14). Later in the chapter, Paul makes an astonishing statement, telling the Philippians that it has been “granted” to them to not only believe in Jesus but to “suffer” for Him.

Spiritually speaking, suffering serves a purpose.

Time and time again followers of Jesus are told to respond to suffering with joy, rejoicing, and exultation. Why? Because it is only through suffering that we develop character qualities that are the mark of spiritual maturity and completeness. Qualities such as patience, perseverance, faith, and hope.

And Paul should know, he did a little trauma bragging himself in his second letter to the Corinthians. Paul lists being shipwrecked (three times), spending a day and a night floating helplessly in the open sea, whipped to the point of death (five times), beaten with rods (three times), and stoned and left for dead. Being under house arrest in Rome must have seemed like a cake walk in comparison. I confess, I find myself comparing Paul’s sufferings in my mind with those of Generation Z and their trauma bragging.

And yet, in the quiet this morning, I am reminded that the spiritual principle is the same no matter the relative suffering. I can look back at some seasons of “suffering” in my own life journey at which my current self would love to go back and tell my younger self to grow up. And, that’s kind of the point. As civilization advances, the shape of suffering changes with it. The “suffering” I may have experienced in my own journey pales in comparison to my grandparents who suffered through two world wars and the Great Depression. They suffered things that are as unimaginable to me as Paul’s resume of physical suffering.

Suffering, no matter what it looks like for any individual or any generation, still provides a choice. I can ceaselessly wallow in my suffering, play the victim card to excuse my poor behaviors, and/or try to escape the relative amount of pain I’m feeling in all sorts of unhealthy ways. I can also follow Jesus, who along with Paul, taught that any suffering is a gift, granted to serve a purpose of moving me toward spiritual maturity and the wisdom that comes with it. If only I have the faith to obediently follow Him in the midst of it.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Wayfarer

Monthly Archives: July 2025

Colors

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Echoes in the Ancient

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Ordered Procession

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Numbers (Jul-Sep 2025)

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Preparations

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Words for “The Anxious Generation”

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Time to Forget

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The Exodus Paradigm

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Philippians (Jul 2025)

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Trauma Bragging and Paul’s Chains

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Just another wayfarer on life's journey, headed for Home. I'm carrying The Message, and I'm definitely waiting for Guffman.

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Just another wayfarer on life's journey, headed for Home. I'm carrying The Message, and I'm definitely waiting for Guffman.