I have loved high, rocky places for as long as I can remember. Give me a mountain, a canyon, a craggy butte or even a large boulder to sit on and I am in my happy place! The best vacations include rocky heights and at the end of those trips I return to a house built on a bedrock ridge…a constant reminder that the Lord is my steadfast rock.
As a little girl, my family spent summer weekends camping near the rocky, cliff-lined shores of the St. Croix River. I recall hikes that took us to a cliff’s edge and, standing there with my little hand clenched tightly in my Dad’s, I recall asking him what would happen if I slipped and fell into the waters far below. His answer was swift and certain. “I’d jump in after after you,” he reassured.
Nothing thrills me like standing on a rocky cliff overlooking a landscape that stretches out endlessly.
So when a hundred-mile wrong turn this summer took my husband and me to a completely unexpected campground on a canyon rim, I was elated! The rocks were a striking mix of warm colors: tans and yellows and rusty reds. The canyon walls were jagged and steeply cut. The sun lit the many hues and a warm, dry breeze billowed up from the chasm below. It was stunning and stirring.
Not wanting to miss the opportunity, I stole away one afternoon to sit on the cliff’s edge and talk with God. I came with questions I had been asking Him for some time—wanting direction for my work in this season of life. I came wanting to meet Him there. But when I arrived and looked out over the expansive vista, it was clear to me that He was already present—waiting just for me. I sat in the stillness of His company and breathed in the sacred air. The Creator and His creation. It was quiet and worshipful.
After some time, I asked my questions, hoping for clear definition of God’s purpose and plans for me. He responded by reminding me of an old black and white photograph that hangs in my home. It’s a distant picture of my father dressed in jeans and a hat standing on a rocky bluff and pointing to a river far below. In his arms is a little bonnet-clad girl, less than a year old, listening intently to her father’s words. It’s a photo I have always cherished, even more since my Dad passed nearly 25 years ago.
With that image in my mind, God spoke directly to my heart and said, “I’m holding you now.”
His words resonated with powerful reassurance, sending warm tears down my cheeks. God didn’t give me the clear-cut answers I was asking for. Instead, He showed me a tender vision of a loving father holding his daughter in the safety of his arms. He reminded me that He Himself is my loving Father—holding me—on every cliff’s edge—in all situations—with the kind of security that only He can provide.
God answers prayers—sometimes in very unexpected ways or very differently than we anticipate. I may not have a clear-cut plan mapped out for my future, but I have the confidence to continue moving forward in faith, knowing that God is holding me as I do. Oftentimes, God’s answers are far greater than the questions we’ve asked.
“Oftentimes, God’s answers are far greater than the questions we’ve asked. ”
I hope to return to that same canyon rim someday in the future. The beauty of that place and God’s tangible presence there will always tug at my heart. But until then, I am sure that the rocks out my home windows will serve as a constant reminder of that lofty vantage point and the pinnacle moment of God’s compassionate response.
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“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” —Isaiah 41:10