Waiting For That Cloud To Move

My mind seems to be in the clouds a lot. (See here for my cloud devotion earlier this month.)  No, I'm not Joni Mitchell who has "looked at clouds from both sides now" but I do seem to be finding God in the clouds recently.  It might be because we've had so much rain lately.  No one in the Ohio Valley can help but notice the constant clouds in the sky.

This morning it was the one that led the Children of Israel through the Wilderness while they were on their way to the land that God had promised them that held my attention.  Sometimes we call where they were headed The Promised Land, you know.

I don't happen to think The Promised Land is a type of Heaven, preferring to see it as my life now that I know Christ as my savior as opposed to the years I spent wandering through the wilderness of sin. But for today, I'll gladly admit that my life sometimes seems to be spent parked in a wilderness while I await further instructions.

That's what caught my eye this morning in my Bible reading.  (We're in Numbers chapters 8 and 9 today).  The verses in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers about the Pillar of Cloud leading God's people suddenly got my attention.

They waited until the cloud moved.

Does that seem insignificant to you?

That cloud moved.It led them where they needed to go. 

And they followed blindly.

Maybe that doesn't mean much to you, but I've got a few decisions that are currently in a holding pattern.  I've got a teenager whose life's decisions are currently in a holding pattern.  I know several people whose lives are seemingly in a holding pattern.

They are waiting for the cloud to move so that they can follow to the next destination along their route.

What are the object lessons that God is teaching through His use of clouds?

• The voice in the cloud said to listen to His beloved Son.
• The Person in the cloud gave instructions to camp quietly until He led in the way that His people are to follow.

Do you think the Israelites ever awoke and asked each other if this was the day the cloud would move?  They were people weren't they?  I'm pretty sure they asked each other, "When are we gonna move?  Why is the cloud just sitting there?  What is it waiting for?"

But when it is all said and done, the Pillar of Cloud got them to the place they were supposed to be.  It led the Children of Israel and it will lead me, too.  I just need to wait patiently until the time that He says it is time to move.