legend of the Cherokee Indian

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youths rite of passage?

His dad takes him into the forest, blindfolds, and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not take off the blindfold until the rays of the sun shine through it. He is all by himself. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience. Each lad must come into his own manhood. The boy was terrified and could hear all kinds of noises. Beasts were all around him. Maybe even some human would hurt him. The wind blew the grass and earth, and it shook his stump. But he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It was the only way he could become a man. Finally, after a horrific night, the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he saw his father sitting on the stump next to him, at watch the entire night.

We are never alone. Even when we do not know it, out Father is protecting us. He is sitting on the stump beside us. All we have to do is reach out to Him. Joshua 1:9.