CONCERT OF PRAYER
Pray Week 685

“The Cloud Moved”

EXODUS 40:36 (ESV) Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out.

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The Lord made it clear to the nation of Israel when it was time to pack up and move from one encampment to the next while they wandered in the wilderness. When the cloud moved, they moved. We do not have a visual pillar of cloud and of fire to guide us in the direction God wants us to go. So how do we discern God’s path and direction? How does God hone our faith and equip us to serve Him and to fulfill His purpose in this life? One method God uses to communicate direction and to develop our character is through our circumstances.

God is in control of our circumstances and oftentimes it is our prayerful response to these circumstances that direct our path. Romans 8:28 – And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good… Sometimes our situation can be like an oasis with abundance of all that is good and we never want to leave. Then circumstances change and we are compelled to move because our situation became as dry and harsh as the wilderness and our faith is tested because life does not feel very good any more.

Oswald Chambers in his writings asks a pointed question: ‘Are we prepared to let God do as He likes with us – prepared to be separated from conscious blessings?’

God wants us to seek Him first and to place our complete trust in Him. Our depth of faith and trust in God is developed and strengthened through the real circumstances of life – the valleys and the mountaintop experiences. It is a superficial faith at best that is based solely upon our feelings and emotions that come from experiencing the blessings of God.

Can we praise Him equally in the dry valleys as well as from the abundance of mountaintops as the prophet Habakkuk declared? Habakkuk 3:17 – Though the fig tree should not blossom,  nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

Paul also wrote about life where reality and faith intersect in his letter to the Philippians: Philippians 4:12 – I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. This secret Paul mentions is a learned faith response. God is the teacher, and life is the classroom.

Jesus set His face with determination and went to Jerusalem knowing full well the crucifixion that awaited Him. He maintained an eternal perspective knowing that this earthly life was temporary and He had a purpose to fulfill while He was in the body. Jesus held loosely to this world and reached purposefully for the eternal kingdom of God.

Has the cloud moved in your life? Have circumstances changed that necessitate a new direction? May the Lord light the path for you to follow. May you learn stability of faith as you follow the leading of the Lord in your life.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & rededication of your work to the glory of God