The Librarian Who Already Had the Book Waiting

In 2019, a young woman named Cara walked into the public library in Asheville, North Carolina, not sure what she was looking for. She had been restless for weeks, unable to sleep, turning over questions about purpose and meaning that she could not articulate to anyone. She wandered the stacks aimlessly until a librarian named Dorothy approached her and said, "I set something aside for you." Dorothy handed her a worn copy of Frederick Buechner's The Sacred Journey. Cara stared at her. She had never met this woman. She had never been to this branch before. "How did you know?" she asked. Dorothy smiled gently. "You looked like someone searching for words you haven't found yet."

Cara read the book that night in one sitting. It cracked open a door she didn't know existed.

This is the mystery Nathanael encountered under the fig tree. He had told no one where he was sitting. He had shared his doubts with no one but God. Yet when Jesus said, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you," Nathanael's skepticism shattered. Not because Jesus performed a miracle, but because Jesus knew him — truly knew him — before they ever met.

The Most High does not wait for us to introduce ourselves. He sees us in our restless wandering, in our hidden searching, and He already has what we need set aside. The invitation is always the same: come and see.