CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 947

“When the Pillar Moves”

And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. (Exodus 13:21; 40:36-37)

Have you ever gotten ahead of God and taken action to help Him out in answering your prayers? There have been times in my Christian walk when I decided to take what I rationalized to be ‘a step of faith’ in a direction I believed God was calling me to. Sometimes these ‘steps of faith’ ended with disastrous results. I thank the Lord that even in my missteps He has been there with Grace to see me through the difficulty I brought upon myself.

When is a step of faith a misstep? How do we know when the pillar of cloud has moved? In hindsight I see that my misguided ‘steps of faith’ were driven by the wrong motives. Sometimes it was my impatience that drove me to action. God seemed too slow in answering my prayer. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness… (2 Peter 3:8-9)

Other times it was fear that motivated me to take a particular course of action. An acrostic for fear is False Expectations Appearing Real. In our mind we play out what-if scenarios and before we realize it we have fueled our fear far beyond reason and fact. Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. (Proverbs 3:25)

The combination of fear and impatience becomes a juggernaut that destroys peace and displaces faith and we take action before the ‘pillars of fire and cloud’ move. You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. (Isaiah 26:3-4)

We may not have the tangible evidence of direction provided by a pillar of cloud or fire but we do have the gift of discernment from God’s abiding presence if we choose to abide in Him. Abide in me, and I in you…for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)

We know God’s direction when we see doors opened for us that we could not have opened ourselves. We know God’s path to take when it is leveled before us, free of obstacles that would hinder us. We know it is God’s direction when provision is made for the journey and it did not come by our efforts.

May you have a discerning spirit so that you can recognize the pillar of cloud and fire in your life and know beyond a doubt when they have moved. May you have a heart that is not only able to discern God’s direction but for the strength of spirit to obey Him in faith and trust.