My Pillar of Cloud

"By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night."   Exodus 13:21 NIV

Courtesy of Pixabay.com

I have always found low lying clouds to be mysterious and beautiful. They appear to move and breathe if you are still and watch long enough. Have you ever been close enough to one of these patches of fog, appearing so close you could almost touch it? I have a time or two in a field on the side of the highway. Each time I wanted to pull over and "walk through the clouds". I promise myself, the next time that opportunity arises, I WILL do it.

A few weeks ago, I had the priviledge of attending the Asheville Christian Writers Conference at The Cove - The Billy Graham Training Center. What an amazingly peaceful and tranquil bit of heaven on earth. I honestly had tears in my eyes as I pulled away from the guard gate. As luck would have it, I forgot to pack my phone charger, a small blessing in disguise. Without the distractions of social media, phone calls, texts and emails, I was able to focus all my attention on the true purpose for being there.  The only regret, with a dead phone battery, I was unable to take all of the photos I wanted.  I only captured one picture of the mountain view, and it was breathtaking.

The Cove

Sunday morning, the clouds hung low in the valley. I was comforted by the beauty of this white, fluffy blanket that seemed to cover us. Immediately I was reminded of the scripture I had recently read about the children of  Israel, being lead in the wilderness by a 'pillar of cloud'. So easily, I imagined what it must have been like in that desert, all those centuries ago with Moses, to see a cloud and know that it was God.  Peace flooded my heart at the vision of this mass that hovered above, seemingly at arms reach.

As you may have read in an earlier post, we have been dealing with the clean up from a storm in early March. A tree fell on the roof of a house we own. Add to that - working on another piece of property to get it ready for habitation, cleaning up our own house and the tree that fell there, finding out we are losing not one but two different tenants, bills piling up, and the already tiny money pile shrinking. I had to take a few days off work from my full time job to get some things finished up. I had been praying for God to lead us, and provide for us, and was beginning (okay continuing) to stress about our entire situation.  As I was driving past Paris Mountain, close to my home, I was again reminded of God's presence as a pillar of cloud.

Paris Mountain

I stopped my car on the side of the road to take a photo.  There it was, to me, a symbol of God's presence. It seemed to whisper to my heart, "Peace! Be Still!". In that very moment, God was there with me, going on before me, and covering me with His peace. What an amazing gift.

To some, clouds or fog are only a nuisance. To me, they will forever be a sign of my Father's guidance, presence and peace.

Take time to notice the little things, God may be seeking your attention
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What are symbols of God's presence in your life?