Following the "Cloud"

Sometime I move before the Lord tells me to do so. Sometimes I drag my feet when He is moving me. The lesson from Numbers 9 is an excellent reminder to listen and watch, to move willingly when He does and to stand still when He does.

The nation of Israel learned to watch the cloud that represented the presence of the Lord among them. "Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out.; but when it lifted they would set out. At the Lord's command they encamped, and at the Lord's command they set out. The obeyed the Lord's order, in accordance with his command through Moses" (Numbers 9:22, 23, NIV).

There are times when I wish I had a cloud to follow. But that's where the listening comes in. We are blessed with God's instruction manual, complete with maps that show us the direction the Lord wants us to go. We are blessed by the presence of the Holy Spirit of God who whispers (sometimes shouts) in the most inner ear of the conscience, of the heart, of the head, to urge us to stay or to go.

The clutter and clamor of the world around us sometimes drowns out God's voice and the pressures we allow to squeeze out time in His Word damage our ability to study the map.

The "cloud" is there. It's up to you and I to make sure that we are listening and watching.