When He Moves, We Move

Scripture:

Exodus 40:36

Throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out;

Observation:

In Exodus 40 God lays out the directions and details for setting up the tabernacle. It doesn't sound like a quick and easy job. There was a great amount of effort that needed to go into making sure everything was as God commanded, after all, this was the place that the glory of the Lord was going to fill! However, when ever God moved, so did his people, and so did the tabernacle. All this time and effort by the people were spent setting up the tabernacle, only to have to move it when God's presence was lifted. Sometimes in our own lives we put in all this effort to build something, whether its a ministry, relationship, direction, etc. only to find that later God's presence is moving somewhere else. I think the temptation can sometimes be that we become so satisfied with what "we" build, that when we see God going in a different/new direction we have a hard time moving on. Israel could see a physical manifestation of God's presence in the cloud and could see when the cloud was taken up, meaning when to go, and when it was not taken up, when to stay (Num. 9:15-23). Moses and the people of Israel were dependent on the presence of God leading them to the promised land.

Application:

I like to try new things and I'm always wanting to go somewhere, anywhere even if I'm not sure if God's presence is in it. However, I can also be stubborn, especially if I've put a lot of effort and time in to something and then it changes. I need to rely on God's presence for guidance rather then my emotions or efforts. I don't want to go ahead of His presence and I definitely don't want to fall behind.

Prayer:

Father I pray that I would be like Israel, that when I see you moving, I would move, and when I see you staying that I would stay. I pray that my obedience would be based on where your presence is, not on any of my efforts or desires.