pramsay posted on July 08, 2009 03:18 2140 views

Chomping at the Bit to Get Going

Do you ever get antsy and uptight, feeling like you just have to get going; you have to make a move? I wonder if I would have been a patient camper back in the Wilderness with the Children of Israel or would I have been ‘chomping at the bit’ to get going?  Back then, God visibly used a sign to guide the wilderness travelers.  As long as there was cloud-cover over the Tabernacle, they were to stay put.  Not budge a centimeter.  

Numbers 9: 22-23 says:

“…whether it were two days, or a month or a year,

that the cloud tarried upon the Tabernacle, remaining thereon,

the children of Israel abode in their tents and journeyed not:

but when it was taken up, they journeyed.

At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents,

and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed…”

Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I look out the tent door towards the Tabernacle and my heart sinks. I say to myself: “That cloud is still there.  I guess we’re not going anywhere today.”Two days – well, I could handle that quite easily. A month? Fingernail biting would start. But the cloud hasn’t budged for the last year. “This is ridiculous! I’ve had it. I’m going anyways!” 

My friend in the next tent asks: “Are you seriously thinking about moving even though the cloud is still there? Aren’t you afraid to go it alone, and forge ahead without God’s guidance? Do you think it is wasted time waiting for God to lead us?” 

But I say: “Well, if I only knew what God’s plan was and what His timeframes are! If I could see His timeline and schedule then maybe I could relax; but this one-day-at-a-time thing is driving me crazy.” 

My neighbor says: “I hear you man, but I would rather proceed through life day-by-day or even step-by-step, knowing that God is leading me, than to impatiently take matters into my own hands and move outside the path of God’s will and to suffer the consequences.”

Sometimes it’s the reverse. The Lord is prompting us to move forward in our Christian experience. He has plans for us but we are comfortable in our tent, just where we are. The scenery is nice and the tent seems to be pitched just perfectly this time. We don’t want to move. We are resisting. 

Did you know that resisting a move by delay tactics is just as serious as bullying forward on our own strength?  Either way – it is disobedience and lack of trust. Proverbs 3:6 “In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.”  Check out Lamentations 3:25 and Psalm 37:7 “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.”

Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today.

Warmly in Christ

Peter Ramsay

peter@heaven4sure.com

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