It was late on a Saturday night last fall when me and some
friends decided to go camping for the night.
I thought it would just be a fun night out with friends talking around a
camp fire, I had no idea that God would speak to me so powerfully on that
trip. We decided to go to a place called
Hawks Bill in Pisgah National Forest. I
had heard a lot about this place but had never been. Since this was decided last minute to go, we
were night hiking. Although it wasn’t a
very long hike, it was probably the most intense hike I’ve ever done with a
pack on my back. It was a cold night,
but by the end of the hike all of us were breaking a sweat. During the hike I was questioning if this was
smart idea to come, and that the view from the top better be worth it.
After an hour of hiking straight up
the mountain, we finally started to come to a clearing, I thought that that was
it….a small clearing surrounded by trees with one big rock in the middle. In my head I was thinking “You’ve got to be kidding
me, this is it!?” But soon my friends
directed me through some trees up the mountain a little further, and then came
to a big opening; the top of the mountain was nothing but a large rock. The whole hike up had been full of laughter
and jokes but now as we all stood on top of that mountain we were all
completely silent. I don’t think I had
ever seen so many stars before, it was absolutely breathtaking. Looking out you saw nothing but rolling
mountains and a dark sky speckled with hundreds of stars. In that moment I felt so small, so
insignificant…and in that moment I realized how BIG God is. I was so amazed that night that I wasn’t
prepared for what was coming the next morning…
We woke up bright and early the
next morning to watch the sunrise. We
ventured back up to the top of the mountain in complete darkness. The sky slowly started to become lighter,
filled with beautiful reds and purples and the sun finally popped up, rising up
over the horizon. Yet again the feeling
of being so small came back, and as I sat there on that mountain it was one of
the most incredible worship experiences I have ever had. It’s so hard to fathom that a God who is so
big, and so powerful, a God who made this beautiful creation…care’s about
little insignificant me. In that
moment I have never felt so loved. To
realize that this HUGE God knows everything about me and loves everything about
me.
The whole time I was on top of that
mountain I kept thinking about Chris Tomlin’s song “Indescribable”
“From the highest of heights to the
depths of the sea
Creation’s revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the
fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song
that it sings
All exclaiming
Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and
You know them by name.
You are amazing God”
That camping trip opened my eyes to
the realness of a HUGE, compassionate, merciful, loving, amazing God.
