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The Cloud
Andrea Lende • June 28, 2020
Numbers 9:18
The Cloud
You can also listen to the meditation and prayer at: https://anchor.fm/andrea-lende/episodes/The-Cloud-eg1sb5
Daily Word:
Numbers 9:18
“At the Lord’s command the Israelites journeyed, and at [His] command they encamped. As long as the cloud rested upon the tabernacle they remained encamped.”
The Israelites were guided by the Lord in the wilderness.
God was seen in a cloud by day and fire by night.
Wherever the cloud rested, the Israelites camped.
When the cloud lifted, the Israelites packed up and moved on.
It may have just been a night they rested, or it may be several days.
They didn’t know from day to day what they would be doing.
They waited on God to lead them every single day.
For forty years, they camped.
For forty years, they packed everything up and moved to a new place.
I think about camping in the mountains.
We spend a lot of time preparing to go.
Then we travel to get set up.
And then we unpack everything to spend a weekend or longer in a restful place.
We make the plans.
We know how long we are going and when we are coming back.
It must have been unsettling for the Israelites to not know how long they would be setting up camp for.
Would it be a night, a few days, or longer?
Each possibility would seem to need a different sort of preparation.
If I knew I was only staying overnight at a campground, I wouldn’t take everything out.
I would just take out just what we needed for the night and early morning.
The rest would stay packed.
But the Israelites didn’t know how long they would stay – ever.
So, they had to learn to be flexible and moldable.
They learned the true meaning of waiting on God.
They developed faith.
As they waited on God, they developed the muscle of being patient and being obedient.
We know the trip was actually short even though it took forty years.
But they were learning how to be led by God.
They were learning how to be faithful to God.
And He was present to them during that time.
They could plainly see the cloud by day and fire by night.
As I read this chapter today, I thought about how the Israelites needed to be completely flexible in their daily living.
How they must have developed obedience.
How they learned to have faith.
It was trial and error.
It wasn’t easy.
Just as it isn’t easy to develop these things in myself.
Takes a lifetime to learn.
In these days and times, we live with uncertainty as well.
We live with constant changes.
Today I choose to be open to God’s leading and pray that He helps me be flexible, obedient, and faithful to Him.
May you find that the Lord is guiding you and that you are growing in obedience and faithfulness to Him.
Daily Prayer:
O Lord, my God, thank You for leading and guiding me. Thank You for the trials that come my way that help me learn to lean on You. Thank You for helping me develop obedience to You and increase my faith in You. Through every trial and difficulty, I have learned to rely on You more. I have learned to trust You. I pray for more faith and more obedience. Increase my faith, Lord. Help me hear Your whispers and obey You. Strengthen me so that I can be used by You. Ready me for Your service. Mold me and shape me as You guide me through this life. Help me be flexible to Your calling. Thank You for choosing me to know You and calling me close to You. Help me bless someone this day. Thank You for hearing my prayer.
Answer: I AM leading and guiding you, My child, and will continue to grow your faith in Me so that you are obedient to My calling.
Response: Thank You, most gracious and loving Father.
We start a New Year! How exciting! Paul had just finished telling the Ephesians to put off their old nature. They had been run around by their feelings and desires. He told them to be renewed in their spirit. The Amplified Bible defines this to be “having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude.” As we say goodbye to this year, let us put on the new and leave the old behind. We have an opportunity to reflect on what to bring forward into this New Year.
This is a great message for the New Year. We can be in control of our own words. As a mother, I used to tell my children to use their words to explain what was happening in their minds. I tried to help them find the right words. Words that would help the situation and not make it worse. I must do the same thing when talking to them. It’s important to use words that do not damage their spirits. Words that lift up instead of tear down. Even though my children have grown, I still want to be careful how I speak to them because my worlds will impact them for the rest of their lives.
As we approach the New Year, it is a perfect time to take inventory of what part of our lives, our hearts, and our souls are not bearing fruit. What can we give up as this year comes to a close? What do we need to give to the Lord for His cleansing and pruning? The answers to these questions take time. Time with the Lord. We are creatures of routines and habits which serve us well. But we can also change our routines and habits to serve us and the Lord better. So, we can ask God to show us what He wants us to give up so that He can have more of us.
I cannot think of a better verse to meditate on as we approach the New Year. Jesus said, "the kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you]." For so many years I believed I had to wait to go to heaven to experience the kingdom of God. I have longed to step into heaven and meet the Lord and His Son. However, as we read the Gospels and study Jesus and all that He said, we begin to understand the kingdom of God is all around us. The kingdom of God is within.
Paul wrote to the Colossians and told them he was praying for them. He prayed they would be refreshed, renewed, and invigorated. He also prayed they would be strengthened. May his prayer be heard by the Lord God Almighty on our behalf today just as it was received two thousand years ago. God is the Source of all things beautiful and wonderful. There is no shortage of renewal, refreshment, or inspiration in His kingdom. And as the Creator of this universe, He continues to pour all good things into His people. Paul wrote that refreshment and strength are needed so we may have endurance.
This verse is the perfect verse to reflect on as Christmas comes to a close. The Lord sent His Son to us. He sent Him to this world as a babe. Jesus was given the task of growing up. A difficult one for all of us. He endured the awkward stages we all go through as we grow past them. I look back at old picture and cringe, yes, I cringe. This life provides plenty of opportunities to feel awkward and just plain weird, but our Father loves us as though we are perfect every day of our lives. This is why Jesus came. He came to make us perfect in God’s sight.
God made Himself flesh so He could take away the sins of the world. The story of the very first Christmas was humble, yet the most powerful and loving birth ever recorded in history. All humanity changed in an instant. When Jesus was born, love filled the earth. Love came down and lifted us up. The angels came to tell the shepherds of this beautiful birth. The stars in the heavens also told the story. As we do all tasks that we do to ensure a beautiful Christmas day, may we remember the miracle that God sent long ago. The miracle of all miracles.
The first Christmas was going to be documented, so that it could be read many times over for all Christmas’ to come. It was also documented so the prophecy of the Messiah’s birth would be known to be fulfilled. Prophets of old foretold Jesus would come from the house of David. They also prophesied that He would be born in Bethlehem. And all this came to pass. Even though Jesus would be known as a Nazarene, His beginning began in Bethlehem. God’s divine plan was set in motion with the first census while Mary was at the end of her pregnancy.
What a wonderful passage to read during Christmas week. Our passage touched my heart as I read it through the lens of Jesus’ birth. “It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself.” We have so much to be thankful for in these few short words, “restoring the world to favor with Himself.” So undeserved and yet so graciously given. We are offered favor with the Lord. Imagine having favor with the almighty God, the Creator of the universe. Jesus chose to leave heaven’s door where all was perfect. He chose to be born into this dusty messy world.
Jesus had just spoken to a fig tree and deemed it unworthy to live because it had no fruit on it. His disciples were amazed when they saw the fig tree wither and die. Then the Lord talked to them about prayer and belief. He told them that whatever they asked for, if they had the faith and belief, they would receive it. I remember the day I started hearing music and lyrics. I had just bowed my head at the piano and asked if the Lord would bless praise and worship music. As soon as I prayed that prayer, the Lord bestowed the gift of song writing upon me.