As Exodus comes to an end, we find the Hebrews still in the wilderness, travelling with God to a destination only God knows where. And the historian is careful to tell us that they move only when God's pillar moved, and they stay put when God stays put.
Exodus is the second book of a five book series which begins with Genesis and ends with Deuteronomy. Their journey will not be a simple one between two points. A few months after they left Egypt, they would come to the land that God picked out for them. But they were too afraid of taking on the people native to the land. They lost trust in the God who had just a few months earlier defeated Pharaoh and the Egytian army. For that, they would spend the next forty years circling the wilderness - until every adult from that generation who voted "no" had died.
The lesson: move only when God moved, stay when God stays, and enter when God says enter.
Write
Think about your faith story: what is your experience of keeping in step with God's Spirit - moving when he says go, staying when he says stay, and entering when he says enter?
Presently, what situation or relationship in your life do you find it hard to do what God asks? In what ways you find it hard to trust God at this time?
Who do you know is running ahead, dragging behind, or has driven their heels into the ground?
Pray
What
is God saying to you today? What's Good News to you?
Talk to God about your experience in keeping in step with him. Thank God that just as he is with you, directs you, and protects you.
Pray about the relationships and situations where you feel challenged in doing what he wants. Ask God for the faith and wisdom to comply, and trust God for his wisdom.
Pray for your friend who is struggling to do what God wants. Pray for the wisdom and opportunity to support them in obedience.
Pray for an experience of God's love, grace and mercy in the way he wants his best for you, and the way he directs and guides you to that best.