Stay Where I Can See You

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ummer was always a wonderful time for me as a kid.  There was no school, I could go barefoot all day, I didn’t have to worry about doing homework, and I could see my friends anytime I wished.  In addition, summer was a time for vacations and that sometimes meant a trip to the beach! 

North Carolina has some of the most beautiful and tranquil beaches I’ve ever visited.  The sand is white, there is plenty of room to stretch out, and the beach goes on and on forever.  When I visit the beach now, I love to sit and watch the waves and listen to them thunder as the crash onto the shore.  I find this to be so relaxing and all the cares of this life just melt away and time stands still.

But as a little boy, the last thing I wanted to do was to sit on the beach.  I wanted to get into the water and play. My brother and I would play in the sand, dig holes, make tunnels, build castles, and fill our pails with seashells.  When we asked permission to take our rafts into the surf, my mom would give us permission, followed by a stern command, “Stay where I can see you!”

We would take our rafts into the surf and ride waves up on the shore.  Each time I landed on the sand, I would look up to make sure mom could see me and that I could see her.  The current would carry us down the beach so every once in a while we would look up, find mom and dad, walk back up the beach, and continue riding waves.  But we always stayed where mom could see us and where we could see her.  Losing sight of her meant we would be lost and then anything could happen.

There is a similar story in the book of Exodus.  The children of Israel were also surrounded by sand.  However, this was the sand of the desert with no water and no ocean in sight.  They weren’t building sandcastles either!  Instead, they were following God as He led them toward the Promised Land.  They carried with them the tabernacle, a portable temple used to worship God.  When they stopped to rest, they would set up the tabernacle and the pillar of cloud stationed itself over the tent.  God’s glory filled the tabernacle and as long as the cloud remained there, the people rested.

Moses records this for us in the very last verses of Exodus. There is a wonderful lesson of hope and encouragement neatly nestled in this passage of scripture. “So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels” (Exodus 40:38). Two great truths jump out at us from this one small verse.  First, the cloud of the Lord remained over the tabernacle by day and there was fire in the cloud at night.  God’s presence was always visible and it never left the people. God meant for His people to know that He was with them, day and night, constantly leading, guiding, and watching over them. 

Second, God’s presence remained in sight during all their travels.  God did not appear every other day and twice on Sunday.  He didn’t pop in for a visit every once in a while.  No!  God went everywhere His people went and He remained in full view of them all.  The people never wondered where God was or if He had forgotten them or abandoned them.  All they had to do was lift their eyes toward the tabernacle and see His presence.  He wanted to dwell with His people, to commune with them, to lead, to guide, and to protect them.

This is also true today.  True, God no longer appears in a pillar of cloud by day or a pillar of fire by night but His presence is always with us.  No matter where we go, no matter what we do, no matter how desperate or foreboding our situation may be, God is there.  His presence speaks to our hearts, we see Him working in our lives, and we know that He still leads us just as He led Moses and the people all those years ago. 

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f you are going through a lonely place, if you feel that you have been deserted, if your life feels more like a desert than a beach, take courage!  God led His people in the desert and when they set up a place of worship, His glory filled it and His presence was there, all the time and in full view.  The same is true today.  No matter our circumstances we must follow my mom’s advice.  We must hear God say to us from the desert floor of life, “Stay where I can see you!”   Can you see God today?