Light on the Hillside
How God uses unexpected moments to draw our eyes toward Him.
Though early in the evening, the sun had already dipped below the horizon, and darkness was settling over the earth like a heavy blanket. Suddenly, there came a knock at the cottage door. A neighbor stood there, his face lit with excitement.
"You've got to see this," he said.
He had been driving home when he spotted a forest fire burning beyond a distant hillside. It was far enough away to be no threat, but close enough to see its glow.
Stepping outside, the sight took the breath away. Reds, yellows, and oranges danced against a deep purple sky. The flames moved like living things, changing shape and color in the darkness. It was a sight to behold.
It calls to mind Moses:
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush… and Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight…
— Exodus 3:2–3 (KJV)
Moses must have been mesmerized, drawn in by the supernatural glow of God's presence in the fire — a divine manifestation that turned the ordinary and predictable into something unmistakably divine.
Our ordinary moments can also take in the extraordinary if we pay attention to what God might be doing even in the night seasons of our lives.
God invites us to stop and look. The brightness of His presence. The glow of His grace.
Don't hesitate to open the door in the darkness. The smallness of light is best seen then.