Fulfill Your Call - Follow The Cloud
"Now on the day that the Tabernacle was raised up,
the cloud covered the Tabernacle, the tent of the Testimony;
from evening until morning it was above the tabernacle
like the appearance of fire."
Numbers 9:15
While the Jews were wandering in the wilderness, they were led by the Lord and did not move until he indicated. There was a cloud over the Tabernacle by day, and fire by night. The cloud and the fire were the assurance that God was with them, and it was the way the Lord led them.
vs 17:
"Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the Tabernacle,
after that the children of Israel would journey;
and in the place where the cloud settled,
there the children of Israel would pitch their tents."
As sojourners through this life, it's absolutely crucial that we be at the right place at the right time. If the plan of God is that my path will cross another's at a certain time and in a certain place, that means I MUST be there at that time and in that place. If I'm left to myself, I'll go where I desire to go, and move when it's most convenient for me. But it must not be so for anyone who has surrendered his/her life to the Lord. All we do and when we do it, it must be at his will and not ours.
vs 19:
"Even when the cloud continued long,
many days above the Tabernacle,
the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord
and did not journey."
Sometimes it may seem that we're stuck in a certain time or place and we fear that this will go on forever. Well ...if you're surrendered to the Lord, what does it matter? He has a purpose for you being where you are. Your life must cross someone else's, that you might minister to them - or someone there might minister to you. Until the Lord indicates otherwise, stay where you are. When his purpose there is fulfilled, he will move you.
vs 21:
"So it was, when the cloud remained only from evening until morning,
when the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they would journey;
WHETHER BY DAY OR BY NIGHT,
whenever the cloud was taken up, they would journey."
Sometimes a move takes a lot of planning. Other times the Lord might move you suddenly. I was visiting with someone one day, and very suddenly the Lord spoke to my heart to go to a certain person's house. I excused myself and went to the house. In the course of the conversation with the person there, I found out that she was facing death without the Lord. It was a total shock to me because she was such a good and wonderful person, I just assumed she was a believer - but she told me she had resisted God for many years and now was facing death in fear. I was able to bring her to the Lord that day, and she died in the faith. That was a sudden and unexpected move at an inconvenient time (I was visiting someone else at the time) but it resulted in a person being saved. Had I been embarrassed to tell the person I originally was visiting that I had to go - NOW - it never would have happened - with eternal consequences.
vs 22:
"Whether it was two days, a month, or a year
that the cloud remained above the Tabernacle,
the children of Israel would remain encamped and not journey;
but when it was taken up, they would journey."
The "cloud" that believers in Jesus Christ follow is the Holy Spirit of God. When we are totally surrendered to him, he may move us suddenly, or he may leave us in one place for days, weeks, months, years. The important thing is that we affirm our willingness to follow him - no matter what. For those who do so, their lives will be an adventure because the Holy Spirit is leading them with PURPOSE. Who would ever want it to be any other way?