After the LORD delivered the people of Israel from Egypt, he brought them to Mount Horeb (Sinai) where he gave them his laws and statutes. It was there at Sinai where God entered into covenant with his people giving them his ten commandments. The LORD then said to Moses, “Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I swore unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, unto thy seed will I give it” (Exodus 33:1).
Before the people departed, God gave instruction for the construction of the tabernacle, the anointing of the priests, and the census of the people. “And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle…and at even there was as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents” (Numbers 9:15-18).
Would to God that we would profit from this simple example of how to respond to the leading of God! The Scriptures record for us that the people moved when God lifted the cloud and not before. When the cloud remained in place, the people rested and stayed put. “And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and journeyed not…whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed” (Numbers 9: 19, 21-22).
God’s timing is not our timing and his ways are not our ways. We desire the Lord’s leading, but we often grow impatient when we don’t sense his guidance and direction. We are tempted to follow our own way, but by doing so we forfeit God’s blessing and his best for our lives. During those periods of time when it seems that God is silent, rest assured that he has not forgotten his child. How much better it would be if we just quietly waited for his sure leading whether it be days, months, or years. Remember, God works from the vantage point of eternity and his interest lies in the unfolding of our good for his glory in Jesus Christ. Waiting on the Lord is both right and best.
David admonishes us on how to deal with those times of uncertainty. “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD” (Psalm 27:13-14).
From the Chaplain 