The Israelites moved at God's
command. Whenever the cloud above the Tabernacle moved, they moved
and when it stayed, they stayed. They followed and obeyed.
'Whether the cloud stayed above the
Tabernacle for two days, a month, or a year, the people of Israel
stayed in camp and did not move on. But as soon as it lifted, they
broke camp and moved on. So they camped and travelled at the Lord's
command, and they did whatever the Lord told them through Moses.'
Numbers 9:22, 23
They moved when God moved and
stayed when He stayed. And as long as they did that, they were
blessed.
In Exodus and Leviticus, the same
message comes through. Follow God and obey Him and be blessed or
disobey Him and calamities will follow. As we know the history of
Israel, we know that they did follow God up and until a point and
there after they went their own way, despite several prophets being
sent to warn them of the severe consequences of their actions.
And the same applies to us today.
When God moves, we need to move and when God stays, we need to
stay. But that is very difficult for us to do, especially if
staying means that we need to make the best with what we have and
the circumstances surrounding us. We would love to see things
change, we would love to climb the corporate ladder and earn more
money and we would love to move into a bigger, better house, we
would love to immigrate to a country where we are not discriminated
against based on our skin color, but if God wants us to stay, we
need to look up to Him and grow His Kingdom right there where we
are. God is more concerned with our spiritual wellbeing than our
physical wellbeing and if it is better for me and for the
advancement of the Kingdom of God that I stay, then I need to make
peace with it. To stay is His perfect will for my life and I should
be content to know that that is the best for me and the best for
His Kingdom.
And the same goes for when He wants
us to move. It might be extremely uncomfortable, especially if we
are happy where we are, if we are cozy and settled in, if we have a
lot of friends and a lot of things going right for us, then it is
very difficult. It would be very difficult for me too! But history
shows that depending on God and His leading, is what provides
everlasting peace for us. Nothing else. Only He knows best. The joy
of the Lord would be our strength and He would guide us on the best
path. We need to learn from the mistakes the Israelites made and
rather follow His leading.
Lord it is so difficult for us to
stay and it is so difficult for us to move. Help us to rather
follow You, then none of it would be difficult. Only Your will
matters and only what You want for our lives. Please help us to
follow You no matter what. We can only do that with Your Spirit
helping us and thank you that we can know that He does. In Jesus
Name. Amen