On the second night, I woke up in the middle of the night. As I wandered out of my tent, I was in the dark, in between the trees. When I looked up, however, there was an opening in the branches, and the moon was shining down on me through that opening—a beam of light cutting through the leaves. After a night of looking at the stars, I was very comforted by the moon. It is not light directly from the sun—but in the dark, the moon was my companion. It was a pale shining that led me in the night. This reminded me that the moon is a type for the church. It is a light bearer in the darkness before the dawn. Its light is reflected from the sun. During this time, we don’t see the sun, but the moon does shine the sun’s light on us. I was alone, but this shining was especially for me. I knew in that silence what that light was and is to me.
We all found ourselves alone sometimes while camping. We were often in the dark. I don’t like the dark. But many times, while walking in the dark, I recognize something familiar ignited inside me again. This presence, this sense of Someone, accompanied me always when I was alone walking home to my dorm at night in Princeton and to my apartment in Cambridge. These days I don’t often have that experience. But when I was alone, this Person was with me. Whether in a big city or lost under a night sky, those moments of being truly small and human in an expansive universe are the moments I treasure very much. In that condition, we cannot deny that our souls are hollow and incomplete and that we need the Creator. “He who descended, He is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens that He might fill all things” (Eph. 4:10). From the deep void above, He descended and ascended to fill all things—including the chasm inside me.
This time, though, I was not in the dark to be alone. I was heading back to camp. Camping and churching. I am not alone. We are not alone. We are traveling in—we even are—the pale, warm beam of light in the night.
We spoke of milestones recently. It reminds me of Jacob’s dream, and sleeping on the pillow of stone. But guess what happened after he slept?
“Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all lived in tents. But after having his dream at Bethel, Jacob did not speak of a tent; he spoke of God’s house…Genesis 28 is a picture showing that both God and man were homeless. What is man’s real home? For eternity, man’s home will be God. If you do not have God, you do not have a home. No unsaved person can ever feel at home, for man’s real home is God. What is God’s home? Man. Man’s home is God, and God’s home is man. Whenever man is separated from God, both God and man are homeless… Whether we were old or young, male or female, before we were saved, we had no solid support. But one day we were saved and something happened deep within us. What we experienced deep within produced something which became our solid support…we had the assurance that there was a solid rock upon which we could rest. This solid rock is the very nature, the very element of Christ, which has been wrought into our being…
After having the dream, Jacob set up the stone for a pillar (28:18). The stone upon which we lay our head must become building material. Before coming into the church life, we could not understand this. But now, having come into the church, we realize that the very stone upon which we lay our head for rest must become a pillar, that is, the stone must become the material for God’s building. Praise the Lord that we have been saved and are at rest. But what about God’s rest? He cannot have rest until the stone upon which we rest our head has been set up to be a pillar for His building. God will not set up this pillar—we must do it. Our pillow must be set up to be a pillar. In other words, our experience of Christ must become a pillar… Before we came into the church life, we did not set up a pillar. But after coming into the church life, day by day we are setting up our experience of Christ to be a pillar. It is no longer just a pillow but a pillar. It is not only a matter of our rest; it is a matter of God’s building for His rest…
Before we came into the church life, we also had only a pillow for our rest. But a short while after coming into the church, we set up our experience of Christ as a pillar, turning it into worthy material for God’s house. Forty-five years ago, my pillow stood up to become a pillar. It was no longer merely a pillow under my head; it was a pillar for the building of God’s house. While a pillow is good for our rest, God needs a house in which to rest. How can this house be built? Only by our pillow becoming a pillar. Firstly we have the stone, then we have the building.”
—Life-study of Genesis, Message 72.
This is only a little of the enjoyment—there is more. Lord, thank You for an experience to have You and the saints. Thank You for these life experiences to expand our humanity. We were often ungrateful, ungracious, and limited in our capacity. We often relied on You as our rest and comfort but stayed in our own satisfaction. Yet, Lord, we want to also lift up the stone that was our pillow and make it a pillar. Hasten our maturing to rise up and to build Your house. We don’t trust in ourselves but in Your mercy and wisdom. We are Your sons. Bless us, Lord.
-RC