Those First Steps
Direct my steps by Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me. (Psalm 119:133 NKJV)
Twilight is a mysterious and yet magical time. It’s that time of the day when everything seems to become a little more ominous as the shadows appear to slowly melt into the darkness. It’s that time of the day when the colors burst open in the sky for one brilliant moment as a prelude to the night, and all the hidden dangers seem to lurk just outside the realm of sight.
It was at twilight, just as the sun was beginning to set that Craig and I took our first steps on the driveway. Looking down the long, narrow driveway we could see the fallen oak tree laying across the driveway about two hundred and fifty feet from where we stood. We could also see that it was just another twenty to thirty feet beyond the fallen tree that the driveway turned off to our right, into what we could only assume was the yard and the house. Craig and I never made it past the tree that day.
One of the lessons that God has taught me, over the years, is to heed the warnings and roadblocks that He puts in my path. I wish that I could tell you that this was an easy lesson for me to learn. I also wish that I could tell you that it was a lesson that I learned quickly. Unfortunately, neither of these were the case!
That fallen tree was the first of many warnings that we choose to ignore. Partly because we didn’t recognize it as a warning from God. Partly because we were ignorant of the spiritual realm into which we were about to stumble into. And partly because we felt like we could handle any situation that might arise.
Those first steps took us into a world that we did not understand, and were not prepared for. What we were about to step into was nothing short of evil. It would have been best if we had just turned around that day and gone somewhere, anywhere, else. But, we all know that’s not what we did.
Anyone who has ever been in the woods for any length of time knows that eerie feeling that occurs when all the animals grow quiet; this quiet occurs only when the threat of danger is near. As Craig and I began our journey down the driveway, we came to realize three things. First, there was no sound. No birds were chirping. No dogs were barking. No sounds of cars driving on the road just a few hundred feet behind us. No sound of the wind blowing the tree branches. No sound of the overgrown driveway beneath our shoes. There was absolutely no sound. Second, we were within a few feet of the tree when we realized that our only way of escape, which lay behind us, could easily be blocked. Third, there was a presence. It wasn’t a presence that could be seen; it was felt. It was a feeling of heaviness. It was a feeling of fear and terror. It was a feeling of sinister opposition. It was a feeling of an all-consuming darkness.
Darkness is the absence of light, and for the next few moments it appeared that all the light had vanished. It felt like we were caught in a vacuum of pure darkness. In that silent moment, a single, errie sound was heard. It sounded like a singular voice, and yet it could be heard, and more importantly, it could be felt, from all around us. It came from the trees on either side of us. It came from the canopy of branches above us. It came from the tree trunk that was lying across the driveway. It was as if this voice literally surrounded us. It was coming from the driveway itself. The message of the darkness was simple and clear, “Leave now. Stay away. We know you.”
Desperate to escape the feelings that engulfed us, Craig and I turned and ran as hard and as fast as we could. I have never been much faster than a three-legged turtle, and I appreciated that Craig didn’t just run off and leave me! Our feet were heavy, and the driveway felt like it had turned into a quicksand that was pulling us in deeper with each step that we took. We didn’t dare look back, but we could feel the darkness closing in behind us. We could hear the sounds of laughter closing in all around us. It was only after we got back to the beginning of the driveway and into Craig’s car that all the other sounds returned.
Once again, we could hear the birds. We could hear the dogs barking. We could hear the trees blowing in the evening wind. We could hear the cars on the road driving past us. But we could still hear that ominous voice of the darkness telling us to “Leave now”. We could also hear and feel the beatings of our own hearts as we sat there in fear and shock.
I can remember looking back up that driveway not knowing what to think, let alone how to explain what had just happened. Craig and I were dazed, confused, and yet more resolute than ever to figure out what was going on. We were beginning to believe that perhaps some of the rumors and stories about the driveway and the house were true. Maybe we should have heeded the voice of the darkness that we heard and felt that evening. Maybe we should have stayed away. But we didn’t.
Come back next time as we go Beyond the Tree.
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