I had spent the night in tears because of something cruel that someone had done
to me. I finally dropped off to sleep around 5:00 A.M., only to be rudely awaken
at 5:30 by—of all things—the timer on my stove! How or why, I still don’t know,
for no one had touched the stove since the night before. However, when I went
into the kitchen to investigate, I could feel the presence of the Lord, and so I
decided to spend the rest of the night in Bible study and prayer.
I read my New Testament passage first, then I opened my journal. I fully
intended to write down my thoughts from my reading, but before I could complete
my first sentence, waves of sleepiness began rolling over me. I decided to give
in. After all, I had a full day ahead of me, and my night had been very short.
After dozing a few seconds in my chair, I jerked myself awake enough to go lay
down. As I was putting my pencil down, however, I noticed some strange letters
on my journal. I stared at them for a few seconds, trying to make my sleepy eyes
focus, until I finally made out the letters “EX”. The book of Exodus. That was
where I had left off with my Old Testament reading the day before! How had these
letters gotten onto my journal, in my own writing?
Again sensing the presence of God, I opened my Bible to Exodus, chapter 13, and
my eyes dropped to the last verse: “He took not away the pillar of the cloud by
day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.” Ex. 13:22. In my
mind, the vision of the glorious cloud of fire and light sweep away my
sleepiness. “Lord,” I whispered, “I wish I had a pillar of light and fire right
now. I need evidence that You are here!
Then a voice spoke to me, and my fingers wrote the following words in my
journal: The cloud is still there, child. It shines before you now!
Amazed, I responded by writing the words, Open my eyes, Lord, that I may see!
A billowing white cloud rose up before me, and in the centre of the cloud sat my
Savior, smiling at me, beckoning for me to come. I allowed my thoughts to flow
to Him, and as I did, everything around me became a blur of colour. Then,
suddenly, I stood before a dense—but stunted—forest. The trees were rooted in
shallow, sandy soil, and as I watched, a few came crashing down around me.
Though they weren’t tall, I wondered that any of the trees could stand in the
wind that whistled overhead.
My eyes were then drawn to a dwarfed, twisted sapling that stood before me.
“It’s a good thing it’s not as windy down here,” I thought to myself. “This poor
tree would never be able to stand up to the storm overhead!” I stared at the
gnarly roots. They were so tangled around rocks that it was a wonder they found
their way into the soil at all. But as I watched, the tree began to grow. In
just a few seconds, it had shot up through the cover of leaves overhead until it
stood proud and strong, a hundred feet above the rest of the forest.
“It won’t last long,” I thought to myself. Yet, though the wind ripped at it and
tossed it about, it didn’t fall! My eyes traveled back down the proud trunk to
those gnarly, rock invested roots, and it suddenly became clear. The tree needed
those rocks as an anchor! As I stared at the rocky ground, it began to bellow
and glow: just like I had envisioned the cloud of fire and light! God’s presence
was right there amongst the rocks!
Seconds later, I found myself back in my family room, my eyes riveted to Exodus
13:22. Suddenly it all made sense. The rocks were trials. They were the mean
things people around me said. The horrible things they did. Yet, amongst the
trials was the pillar of fire and light—Jesus. By reaching out to him when my
world was falling apart, my roots would grow around all the troubles in my life,
firmly anchoring me to my Lord. I would grow taller than all the others, and I
would not fall in the winds of strife!
“Thank You, Lord!” I prayed. “Thank you for the cloud of your presence that is
always about me. When I’m feeling alone, open my eyes that I may sense your
presence, that I may grow strong, in you!” And then I opened my journal, and
under the strange letters “EX”, I wrote:
LORD, MAY I BE THE SAPLING WITH THE GNARLED ROOTS!
By Lyn Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
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The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.