“And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them in the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light to go by day and night. 22. He took not away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.”
As Israel was preparing to leave Egypt, God did not leave them to wander blindly to Canaan, but He gave them the “pillar of cloud” by day and the “pillar of fire” by night. This was God’s way of leading Moses and His people through the journey that they were about to take. We can say that the cloud and fire are types of the leadership of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God is always willing to give us the wisdom of His leadership. It is when we fail to follow that leadership that we get into trouble – as Israel proved time and time again. There are reasons that God gives us spiritual leadership in our lives, and if we are wise we will follow His leadership? Why? We need to follow God’s leadership because He knows where the pitfalls are located. We serve a God who knows everything from one end of eternity to the other, and He alone knows where the dangers lie. When people go on safari in Africa, they do not just go to Africa and start their journey. They hire a guide who will be able to keep them away from the places that would be dangerous to them. Sometimes we step into the devil’s traps because we do not follow God’s leadership. The devil sets up traps all along the way of our lives, and we need God’s vision and God’s wisdom to stay out of those traps. I think we can all look back on our lives and say to ourselves: “What was I thinking? I should have seen it coming.” Then we remember that we were not following God’s leadership in our lives. God allows us to go off track sometimes, because He knows that we will learn better, or I should say that hopefully we will learn better. We need to follow God’s leadership because He knows where the challenges are. A good example of this was when the Israelites left Egypt; there was a more direct route to Canaan than the way they took. What was the reason that God led them around by the Red Sea instead of in the more direct route? One reason was because they would have to fight the Philistines if they went on the more direct route, and they were not ready for that. However, since God could have given them victory over the Philistines, I think that a more compelling reason was that if they defeated the Philistines, they could claim that they did it themselves. Sometimes God wants to challenge us to see Him do what only He can do. When they went by way of the Red Sea, the Israelites became upset when they realized that Pharaoh’s army was pursuing them, and they began to complain. But in the final analysis, when God divided the Red Sea for them, they could not claim that they did it themselves. When you are following God’s leadership in your life and you come upon what seems to be a pitfall, remember that it might be a challenge so that you can see what God can do. We need to follow God’s leadership, because if we are not careful we will lose the way and wander through the wilderness. Israel had to wander for forty years through the wilderness because they failed to follow God’s leadership. He offered a challenge to go into Canaan, and they refused to go out of fear. There are many Christians who have been derailed by the devil because they were afraid to follow God’s leadership. God did not create us to wander, but we will if we do not stay close to Him and follow His leadership. Whose leadership are you following today? If it’s not the Lord’s Holy Spirit, stop where you are and go in the direction that God would have you go. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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