Following our God

Written by Myles MacMillan.

 

"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. 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. They obeyed the Lord’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses."(NIV) Numbers 9:21-23

After the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites found themselves wandering through the desert for 40 years while they awaited the Promised Land. As we can see in the reading from Numbers, their travel plans were not given to them in advance. They had no idea if the place they were camped at would be their home for the next day or for the next year.

Thinking about my life, I believe that living this way would be hard for me and I suspect that it may be the same for many others as well. As humans, we like to be in control of our own lives. We feel a sense of security when things are exactly the way we want it and when things don't go our way, it causes stress. The world we live in would tell us that, it is our right to have everything our way and we should stop at nothing to get things the way we want it. If we examine how God chose to interact with His people in the desert, however, we can say that He expects something much different from us.

Some may say that God was unfair to the Israelites in the desert by not sharing His plans with them but the truth is, He knew what was best for them and His will was to bring them to the Promised Land in His own time. This passage got me thinking about the Israelite's trust in God and I think it's admirable how they were willing to wait for God and also follow Him whenever it was in His will to stop or go. There is no doubt that some of the moves would have bothered some of the people and they would have been upset with either God's timing or choice of location or both but the scriptures say that the people followed God despite all of this.

Brothers and Sisters, how much do we trust God today? Do we get upset with Him when our hopes and dreams don't go exactly as we planned or do we look for opportunities to make the most of what we have been given? Do we grumble at God when we have been asking for something from Him and it has not yet been granted or do we trust that He knows what’s best for us and wait for Him to do things in His own time?

I don't think it was an accident that God took the Israelites to the desert for 40 years. In Egypt, the Israelites were under harsh treatment but on the brighter side, there was also fertile soil with the potential for lots of food and blessings from the land. The desert, by comparison, was a wasteland and they had to rely on God for manna each day (read Exodus 16 for more on this). By going to the desert, the Israelites had to learn to trust in God instead of in themselves or the Egyptians. They struggled with this often and I believe that we still struggle with this today as Christians.

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