God Directs His People

How would you like to be directed by a cloud? What if it only gave you a short amount of time to pack up all your belongings to move? What if you didn’t know whether you would be moving tomorrow or a year from tomorrow?

Numbers 9:15-23        ¹⁵ On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. ¹⁶ That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. ¹⁷ Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. ¹⁸ At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. ¹⁹ When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s order and did not set out. ²⁰ Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the Lord’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. ²¹ Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. ²² 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. ²³ At the Lord’s command they encamped, and at the Lord’s command they set out. They obeyed the Lord’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses.

God directs his people. He gave the Israelites the notice He knew they needed in order to pack up and prepare for each move. The Israelites were quick to complain about food and water, but there is no record they complained about God’s timing in directing them for each move.

As we seek God’s direction today, we can trust His timing to let us know what we need to know when He determines it’s best for us know. Sometimes I think I need to know “now” about this and that, but I’m not sovereign. I don’t see the big picture.

In what area of your and my life are we seeking God’s direction?

Will you and I trust God’s timing to provide the direction He knows is needed?

Alice