Scripture: Exodus 40:36-37
"Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up."
OAP: Lucky Israelites...They had God dwelling right with them, and had clear signals about when and where to go. It seems these days that I'm rarely given the privilege of a cloud, fire, or angel to provide guidance at clear points in time on what to do. It seems like my decisions have to be based on something far less concrete, and I'm getting this unfair treatment from God.
But then I got to thinking about the Israelites. Despite all this clear guidance, they still doubted God's plan and purpose for them. They thought He was leading them aimlessly in the desert. They thought He wouldn't provide the food and water they needed. And then, when they did finally reach the promised land, they want to enter on their own terms, not in God's timing. I want to scream through history and go "How stupid are you? Follow the freakin' cloud!! It's God!"
Trusting God is not dependent upon visual manifestations. But if we don't have the benefit of that, how do we make decisions? Last night, I found this book my parents gave me a few years ago. It was an assembly of writings from a bunch of their friends and family on different topics, ranging from faithfulness, integrity, relationships, and decision making. To avoid a doubly long blog, I've quoted and paraphrased what the person wrote on decision making:
"When we ask about God's will there are three aspects of His will that we must recognize: God's sovereign will, God's moral will, and God's individual will. God's sovereign will can be defined as God's predetermined plan for everything that happens in the universe - God's sovereign plan is secret. God's moral will on the other hand is completely revealed in the Bible (1 Thes 4:3). Whenever we obey the Scriptures we are doing God's will. The third aspect, God's individual will for our lives, is a tough area. Many Christians believe that God has a blueprint for our lives and our challenge is to somehow unravel that blueprint so that we please God. The scriptures do not command us to find God's will for most of life's choices, nor to we have any passage instructing us on how it can be determined."
SO WHAT?
We can go into analysis paralysis thinking we've got to figure out the exact thing God wants us to do. However, the Christian life is a journey, not a script to be followed. We are blessed with the freedom to make decisions. As much as we might like the ease of passively following a white cloud around, we'd be missing out on the fact that we are created in the image of God with the faculties to make decisions on our own. Beyond that, we're not left abandoned by God. We've been given the Bible with thousands of decision examples and the embodiment of God's will for moral decision making. To often, I consider the Bible much like the Israelites considered God's leading in the cloud. I don't trust that its providing guidance in the right direction. I want to throw out its principles and fend for myself by the world's standards, and make decisions on my own terms, when I want to. I discredit its validity and the inspiration and provision of the God who inspired its words.
God thank you for your Word. I struggle that it does not have all the answers, but am thankful that it can be a guide for me.
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