About twelve years ago, my wife Maryellen and I went to Stonybrook Park for a camping trip.

Amber’s daughter, Michelle, (my granddaughter) was very young at the time. Amber had prepaid for the campsite weeks in advance.

We drove to Stonybrook that morning and signed in at the entrance of the park. When we finally found the campsite, there were a lot of loud people around our site.

In addition there were stones and gravel to set up our tents on, as well as a steep drop-off without a fence. Amber was quite upset about the arrangement. So we left the site to sign out for a refund.

At the ranger’s station, another ranger was hearing about the complaint and spoke up: “We have another site called ‘group camp’ where groups rent an entire area for camping. The group that was to come has cancelled. Would you like to see what it looks like?”

Sure, we said. It turned out to be about half the size of a football field, with Stonybrook Creek running beside it with a large beautiful waterfall right near the campsite. We had it for the entire Labor Day weekend all to ourselves.

As we took a walk during our stay, there was a large clearing in the woods. I noticed a tree all by itself, a very large hemlock tree, I would say at least 80 feet tall.

It was fully developed. Its branches were easy for me to reach from the ground. It had very small cones on it, for seeds like pine cones, only very small, I noticed the same kind of trees, all close together in the woods, mixed with other kinds.

They were competing with each other for sunlight, where their branches are way up in the air, forming the canopy of the forest. You would need to climb at least 40 – 50 feet to reach a branch.

But that one big tree stood alone. It came from a very tiny seed from the tiniest cone I had ever seen.

It had total access to sunlight, where it could grow, unhindered by its surroundings.

I tried measuring it around its girth and it was more than twice my six feet two inch reach around it.

Imagine now how you would develop in your walk with the LORD if you would come out from among the crowded life you have been living. You will come to know that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

You would be able to present yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual act of worship.

You will be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You would discover that with faith as small as a mustard seed, you can order mountains in your life to be moved and they will have to move.

To please God means to agree with what He says.

Without the faith you need you will not be able to please Him.

Come out from among them and be separate. For He is your shield and your exceedingly great reward.

 

 

~ Thomas Downes

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Thomas Downes. Walking with the LORD for over 40 years, Thomas runs “The Voice of the Writer” a Prophetic Ministry. His purpose is to present the Word of God and the Love of God with the prophetic heart; the heart that desires to hear the Voice of the LORD, and present His Word for the encouragement of others.

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