Pillars of Presence
A creative devotional and reflection for your day:
They set out from Succoth, and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. (Exodus 13:20–22)
He never left his station in front of them, day and night.
Let that soak in for a few moments.
Hindsight has always been my revelation of God’s leading and faithfulness. It’s when I look back in reflection that I can clearly see that God was at work, moving and arranging the various pieces of my life. I’d like to say that as I grow and mature that I get better at noticing God in action, fervently protecting and guiding me. The truth is there are fleeting moments of this clarity, but more often than not I totally relate to the short-sightedness of the Israelites, quite possibly with signs as large as a giant pillar of fire in front of me.
But what holds me fast is a little thing called faith. You see, in faith we can keep moving forward awkwardly knowing that God is leading, and always has been. In faith I know that He has the power to appear as a frightening, yet trustworthy pillar of cloud or as small as a Mexican peso or Monarch butterfly. Why yes, both of those things are symbols to me of God’s watchful eye on my little life. Stories for another time.
While faith is seen as admirable today, it has also become slightly glazed over, losing the complexity that can get unpacked from both possessing and enacting it. It’s not simply reading the bible repeatedly because you ought to–it’s doing so fully knowing that you will never get to 100% certainty, but to remain steadfast is to agree with trusting. Trusting what is ultimately good. Within faith is a given space for doubt and mystery. An adventure I need to repeatedly remind myself of, rather than dread. Perhaps you have felt your faith losing its luster or have boiled it down to just a one-note focus.
As God assuringly displayed his love and protection through symbols, I pray that we in return can both see and have continual faith that those pillars are there, before and behind us.
Practice makes perfect (in God’s eyes at least) –
Meditate on Exodus 13 and 14.
Locate those ‘God pillars’ in your life that day-in and day-out remind you that He is with you. Spend some time creating a visual prompt for yourself that you can physically place in your daily motions so that like the Israelites, the presence of the Lord will be right before your eyes.
Give thanks out of imperfect faithfulness!
See more of Caitlin Ng Illustration.