Funny how the way we feel time can inspire a sense of panic and dread.
I felt those words deep in my soul. How many times have we stared at our options – really pretty, wrapped-in-a-bow options – and been unsure about what to do next? We think it all the way through: if I choose this, then XYZ will happen. But if I choose that, the ABC can’t happen.
Sometimes we’ve even convinced ourselves that if it’s what we want, then it can’t be God. He would never call us into something favorable. So we sit paralyzed by choices I’m not entirely sure we need to fret over, believing the lie that everything God offers us will come with strife. But the blessing of the Lord makes us rich, and He adds no sorrow to it.
What if it’s not about making the wrong choice, but about honoring Him in every choice?
What if it’s not about making the right or wrong choice, but about honoring Him in every single choice?
36 Now whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out on their journey, following it. 37 But if the cloud did not rise, they remained where they were until it lifted. 38 The cloud of the Lord hovered over the Tabernacle during the day, and at night fire glowed inside the cloud so the whole family of Israel could see it. This continued throughout all their journeys.
Exodus 40:36-38
These are the last words in the book of Exodus. The final thought on a harrowing journey which has been used to teach and correct and guide the people of God ever since its occurrence. It’s not quite as bow-tied as you might imagine such a moment to be. Considering we have the rest of the Bible to keep learning from, I get it.
But still – I find it interesting that these are the final thoughts of this historical walk from slavery to freedom. Let’s talk about it…
Sometimes, we feel a sense of urgency to get something settled, to move on to the next thing. Meanwhile, God is perfectly fine with hovering in one spot.
“If the cloud did not rise, they remained…” They stayed put. In this case, the decision to not make a decision was completely acceptable. But in our lives, we call that complacency. This word has a negative connotation because it is coupled with self-satisfaction.
But in the case of the Israelites, they were content with their decision to not make a decision because they were relying on God. Sometimes, we feel a sense of urgency to get something settled, to move on to the next thing. Meanwhile, God is perfectly fine with hovering in one spot.
And we haven’t addressed the fact that it’s super weird for a cloud to stay in one place. Those things are constantly on the move, blown this way or that way by a simple breeze. But the cloud in the tabernacle? The one occupied by the presence of God? That cloud could not be moved by the wind.
An outside force is no match for a space occupied by the Spirit of God.
An outside force is no match for a space occupied by the Spirit of God. In Exodus, they had the tabernacle. Solomon gave us the temple. But we are the new testament dwelling place for the Holy Spirit according to 1 Corinthians. So we ought to be just as immovable as that cloud. Not that we can’t pack up go; just that we do it on His word instead of our whims.
“… the whole family of Israel could see it.” Multiple witnesses leaves little room for debate. The truth that the whole family of Israel could see the cloud tells us that God is not as interested in the singular story as He is in the corporate outcome. He is deeply involved in our individual stories and cares abundantly for the one lost sheep. But the life of one will undoubtedly be used to impact countless others.
Your story matters to God. My story matters. But this is a family. His family. So your story – my story – it’s all our story. Multiple witnesses leave little room for debate. We don’t have to answer our own questions when God has given us a community to bear witness.
God is not as interested in the singular story as He is in the corporate outcome.
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