I remember the day I
pulled over on the side of the road. There was no car malfunction. No blinding rain.
No stranded fellow sojourner to help.
There were swans. A
mother and her babies swimming across the river that ran parallel to the road I
travelled. They glided like synchronous swimmers putting on a show. The unexpected
scene called me to pull over and stop the car. To stop life for a few moments.
I was driving home from
a three-day business meeting. My body was tired. My mind was overloaded with a
demanding career. My emotions were held hostage with the guilt of not being
home with my young family. The knots in my back were screaming. I was overdue
for a good cry.
When I pulled over to watch the swans, I exhaled. I felt a peace wrap around me like a weighted blanket. The feeling was the familiar presence of God reminding me that He was still there. His promise to never leave me was still true. I could climb on His lap and be held.
I can recount many moments like that one. They each brought the perfect gift for the occasion.
Sometimes
the gift was peace in the chaos.
Or joy in the darkness.
Rest in the exhaustion.
Contentment in the lack.
Hope in the emptiness.
Faith in the
uncertainty.
Old Testament
patriarchs taught us what to do with these kinds of encounters. They gathered
stones and built an altar and named the place, so they would remember it. Jacob
did it after his vision [Gen 28:10-22] using the stone his head had rested on.
Joshua did it [Gen 38:45-49] after leading the children of Israel through the
Jordan into the Promised Land. Samuel did it [I Sam 7:7-12] after the LORD showed
up for him in a battle.
That day by the river I
gathered symbolic stones, thanking God for meeting me there. I filed it in my
memory and named it “that place with the swans.” So many of our times with Him happen
through our own discipline to seek Him. Maybe over our morning coffee or before
closing our eyes at night or meeting at His house on the weekend. But other
times He seeks us. He just shows up beside us in such a powerful way that we must
stop and sit with Him. The next time He does that for you, gather a few stones
in your memory bank, so you can remember His goodness.
