The Long, Winding and Narrow Road

Some people are into birds (the real feathery kind). Some prefer climbing mountains. Others are into staring at screens all day long, be it I-pads, smart-phones or laptops. Me, I 'chase' God. I like chasing God, because I know He loves to be caught. He said it plainly "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). Though I have noticed His call to play hide-n-seek usually comes to me at not the best of times. Like now when it's rainy season, I find myself driving 2 hours up a long, winding and narrow road all the way to Fraser's Hill. Which honestly is a 'nothing-happening' place. But perhaps that's the best place to 'find' God.
Of course that's a sort-of misnomer of terms. After all, God is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. So it's not quite accurate to say I am 'going hunting' for God. But it's really a heart thing. It's somewhat like the habit of some people who would think  nothing of going way out to find the best makan places, because the food is reputedly the best.

Besides, I was tired, fed-up, bogged down with many issues. That's why I purposely took leave to get away from the madding crowd to a place where preferably not many people go, and there is no wi-fi hopefully, where I can tune out the world and tune in to heaven's channel. It's in places where nothing is happening that God happens because the 'reception' for some reason is clearer there. There is something to that cliche cartoon- character who is always depicted as climbing a mountain to seek a 'guru' to answer life's most difficult questions.
So to Fraser's I went with high expectation. As usual, I lost my way a couple of times but managed to get there with the help of  human 'angels' who pointed me in the right direction; I can always count on God sending them. He takes care of all things well, right down to my car lights, which I had left on inadvertently after parking. 2 hours after check in, the inn people called to alert me, and I found the 'angel' beside my car.... an ordinary forestry-worker who had noticed it and on a hunch, enquired at the reception. So it looked like asking for my vehicle number wasn't just to be filed away in their record, but actually worked out for my good.

I had come to seek God.  There was no 'magic' to it; I didn't hear any audible voice from the sky, didn't see any lightning and thunder display; there were no angelic visitations, no dramatic dreams or fantastic visions. Just heart-to-heart moments when He 'nudges' me, telling me to look, listen and learn. Did He answer all my questions? Nope. But He did answer my prayers, and that is enough, more than enough. Many people get entangled up in questions to God, about God. But sometimes, that's just a convenient smoke-screen for making unanswered questions a reason not to believe. A wise saint once said, We believe to see, not see to believe God. 
So there I was, trekking up to the Jeliau waterfalls early in  the morning. I arrived there at the same time as a group of youngsters. Within minutes they had their hand-phones out and were busy snapping selfies and groupies. And then they were done, they left giggling and laughing away. That's how some people are with God....they are a 'flash in the pan', here today gone tomorrow. God is just as good as the next nice selfie-shot. After them came 2 men. They stopped, smoked, chatted and then took off their shoes to wet their feet in the cold waters. That's the kind who will 'test' out God for a bit, whilst still doing their own thing. They too walk away after their cigarettes are finished. Another guy ambles up, lugging camera equipment and net in hand. Every bit the 'pro': this is the expert who makes a religion out of examining God. He too leaves after he's finished setting up the perfect position to take the perfect picture of a waterfall. (I saw him again much later at another spot; waving his net around, guess he was trying to catch something ...butterflies, birds, insects, fishes.... maybe God??)
 One by one they all left. I was alone and yet, not alone; as I realized what God was teaching me through a waterfall.... how everyone is so like those random people who came to see a beautiful scene, and react so variously when confronted with it.  What do we do with God? Is He just to be admired, tried and tested, 'dissected', and ultimately discarded?
And as I stared at the waters, it struck me how much raw power there was contained in that little waterfall. I have seen far more spectacular falls of course. But as I watched the white foamy torrent tumble down from its height, I realized this wasn't just water; this liquid had amassed enough power to erode the hardest of rock underneath its channel, to cause ripples that carried on far beyond the plunging pool. And  I felt the constant cold wind that swept around the area. I saw how every surface of everything in the vicinity was wet, covered with a film of moisture. I heard the roar of the waters. And God whispered, "You know, that's just an itsy-bitsy picture of My power. Get it?"

I looked at the waterfall with new eyes. As I gazed downstream, I saw how muddied the waters became the further from the falls they flowed, as compared to the whiteness of its source; even the ripples were less. Again the still small voice sounded in my heart...that's what happens when we choose to move away from a pure and holy God; we all become dirtied by sin and we just 'muddy' along in life - and the worse part is we think it's ok, because well, it's 'our' life, we reject the Power that would lift us far beyond this 'our' life...


I moved to go, but something caught my eye..... I saw gold, 3 clear streaks of gold dancing in the waters. I had been hoping for a rainbow, but instead God showed me something more extraordinary. At any other angle, they would not have been visible. Sure, scientifically my head explains it as just refraction of light upon water. But this was happening in the shadows, where there was no sun light as yet. And at that precise moment a sun beam passed over the journal-page in which I had been scribbling down the thoughts as they came. I felt its warmth on the back of my neck...it wasn't science that spoke to me out there. I knew God was telling me His treasures are kept hidden in the secret places and will only be revealed to those who are willing to pay the price. My price? 2 hours of waiting. A small price to pay surely to bask in the warmth of His love and faithfulness.
That was my "bingo' moment. But that wasn't all; many things came to me as I sought His face over 2 days,  totally focusing only on Him. How do I know it's Him, and not my own over-active imagination speaking? Because such  thoughts could never have come from my puny brain. I know who I am - His creation - and I know who He is - the Creator, Originator and Source.
On the last morning, up on the viewing tower above the inn, as I stared at the heavy mist covering the whole area, everything was a blur. I was thinking how like my life it was, all blur-blur. I was dreading the moment when I would have to return, leaving behind a 'mountain-top' experience, and trudge back to the valley of problems that were waiting for me 'down there'.  And then I saw 'it'... for a very brief moment in time, the heavens parted, the sun shone through the mist, illuminating a cloud in all its pristine whiteness. The veil lifted, revealing the mountains, the trees...they were all still there, even though blanketed by the dreary mist. The sounds of the forest, birds chirping... they were still there, though unseen. All are as beautiful, as strong and as alive even though they are covered by the cold fingers of mist. Life is still good. Indeed it was meant to be that way from the beginning, and for always. For "God saw all that He had made, and it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). Heaven broke through earth when Jesus came down 2000 years ago. Behind the many 'mists' in today's world, He's still here, He's alive and He's still very good. The long, winding and narrow road is worth it.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" - Matthew 7:13-14

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