I got stuck in a tree once.

Back in the day, I was a big self-proclaimed “tomboy.” Maybe it was because all of my friends my age were guys, or maybe I really did have an adventurous spirit. Either way, there was this tree, right? It curved all the way to the right, so low and steep that you could literally walk up. My friends and I took turns trying to climb higher and higher. I’d climbed fairly high (higher than anyone else 😎 ), and suddenly realized that I was actually terrified of heights and couldn’t come down at all.

Ever been there?

Maybe you haven’t been in that exact scenario, but I’m sure you can relate. You do something, get halfway into it, and then realize that you’d really rather be doing anything but that thing. You realize with startling clarity that this is actually the most terrifying thing you could be doing with your life, and you’d really like to come down now!

Sometimes, I feel that way with writing—especially this particular project I’m working on. I’ve spent over 30 hours working on it, and I’ll be honest, I have no idea if it’s publishable. I want to give up on it. I want to work on something else. You could say that this project makes me feel like I’m stuck in a tree…so what should I do?

I don’t know about you, but when I’m in a situation like that, my first instinct is to hold onto the tree, screw my eyes shut, and scream bloody murder.

Stuck in a Tree

So that’s what little seven-year-old Alli did. I clung to that tree, limbs shaking, the bark biting into my skin, and shrieked. My dad came running. I remember staring down at him and thinking he seemed so tiny (for reference, my dad is 6ft 1″). I told him I was stuck and couldn’t get down.

My Dad told me he couldn’t reach me, and I would have to climb down on my own.

Seven-year-old Alli said some choice words in her head about that.

Mostly things like “stupid” and “ugly”, all of course directed at the tree I’d decided to climb.

So, what did I do?

Obviously, because I’m writing this, you can probably guess that I didn’t stay in the tree.

My Dad talked me down, literally. He told me where to step, where to scooch down, and directed me calmly down the limb of the tree until my feet were on the ground.

I hadn’t recalled that memory in a long time. I’d actually forgotten about it until I went on a walk this week and passed a tree that looked so similar to the one I’d climbed all those years ago. As that memory flashed in my mind, I felt God put a hand on my head.

My novel, that I feel stuck with? The one I want to shriek for God to snap his fingers and fix or to give up entirely on? God is like my Dad in that situation. He’s standing next to me, ready to catch me if I make a wrong move and fall, but he’s encouraging me on where to step, where to go.

There’s this one verse in Exodus that always stands out to me. It’s when the Israelites are crying out for God to save them from their slavory. It reads as this.

And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.
Exodus 2:24-25

God saw them. He knew their suffering. He pulled them out of Egypt.

But they still had to walk, didn’t they?

They still had to be obedient to the things He called them to do. Even when they were scared. Even when they didn’t want to do it anymore.

I want to be careful here, because I think this can be taken way out of context. So, let me be clear: You can be obedient, you can do what God has called you to, even when you’re scared. Maybe it won’t look like God coming and swooping you out of a tree, or maybe it will. I don’t like to put God in a box.

All I know is this. For me, that memory and that verse combined into one beautiful situation in which I felt seen by God, my fear of the future, of doing what He’s called me to do, was gently called out, and I was given a promise from God.

God sees. God knows. God is there.

So, what do you do when you’re stuck?

Scream for God. In all honesty, he’s probably already there. Scream for God, and then listen and be obedient to what he says—even if you’d really rather he snap his fingers and fix the problem.

I don’t know where this novel will end up. Maybe it’ll be a bestseller, or maybe my editors will tell me it was a good try but ultimately unpublishable. Regardless, God is with me, directing me where to go. I can trust his voice, no matter how high up I feel. No matter how scary the situation.

And then, I can be obedient to what he calls me to do. 🙂 Because God sees and God knows.

Relate? Comment below and tell me where God sees you!

Do you feel unseen by God? I think sometimes fiction can help us feel the most seen. Check out this short story I wrote for you!

Check out Yesterday’s Self, a coming-of-age, sci-fi, Christmas-Carol-esque short story about a young boy wrestling with the pain of his past and his terrifying, unknown future. Can God see his pain? More importantly, can God fix it?

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