Cloud by Day, Fire by Night: God wants to Lead you

The LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to lead them on their way during the day and a pillar of fire to give them light at night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people.” Exodus 13:21-22

Exodus 3:7-9

In Exodus 13, the promises of God are fulfilled- He delivered, by His strong hand, His Children, the Israelites. After 400 years, God did not forget about His people, Israel, His firstborn (Exodus 4:22). It says in Exodus 3 that He observed their misery, heard their crying out to Him, and knew their oppression. But God did not just stop with delivering His people from their oppression. He set aside for them a land flowing with milk and honey, a spacious land, full of heavenly provision. And to get them there, He sent a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to go ahead of them and lead them. 

God wants to lead you. God isn’t just a Father of provision that we should pray to when we want things, but He has a perfect, specific, direct, and loving plan for you. Following the LORD requires your obedience (Exodus 3:10). The Israelites did not move unless the cloud or the pillar of fire was going ahead of them. One of the things that I have been praying is Moses’ prayer to the LORD: “If your presence does not go, don’t make me go from here (Exodus 33:15).” You have to be willing, to let go of what you want and submit to what God already has for you because it is much better than what you could ever have or want for yourself. It will require discomfort (Exodus 13:17). I’m sure after 400 years of being enslaved in Egypt, probably crying out, “How long, LORD,” it was hard for the Israelites to accept God’s deliverance for them. I’m sure some were set in such a routine that it would be more of a hassle to get up and move to freedom. He wants to take you out of the comfort zone of your own mind and lead you in the plan that He mapped out for you before He laid the foundation of the earth (Ephesians 1:4). It may not make sense at first, but rest assured that all good and perfect things come from Him (James 1:17), and He is with you always (2 Corinthians 6:16, Exodus 33:14), to lead the way.

Throughout Exodus and the Bible, the language that God uses when talking about Israel and His people is that of a loving Father who has a beautiful plan for His child. Let the LORD’s love for you be the cloud by day and the fire by night that goes ahead of you and leads you in the direction that He has for you to go.

Go Further into Scripture

“The LORD is my shepherd; I have what I need.” Psalm 23:1

With God as your shepherd, you lack nothing. You will always have exactly what you need because He knows you better than you know yourself. What He has for you is good, because the LORD is good.

“I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me.” John 10:6

Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd who desires to lead you to life. Jesus says that His sheep know His voice and they follow Him. Spend time with God by praying and reading the Bible to know the voice of Jesus who wants to lead you. 

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” Hosea 11:1

God refers to Israel, His chosen people, as a child that He loves. He called them and led them out of Egypt to a land that He had prepared for them. God does the same thing with us. He wants to take you from what is destructive and harmful to you, and lead you into what He has for you, and bring you closer to Himself because you are also His beloved child.

“For your thoughts are not my thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” This is the LORD’s declaration. For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

God’s ways and thoughts are much higher than yours. He was the one who created you with His hands and He knows what He has for you and what He wants to do for and with you. Trust in God’s ways and thoughts that are larger, bigger, and higher than what you could ever imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

The Gospel/The Good News

All of us like sheep have gone astray, missed the mark, and left the path and plan that God so intricately mapped out for us. Even though you may have strayed away, or maybe you were never following His plan for you, He wants to start leading you today for your everyday life. God is able to accept and lead us because of the sacrificial work of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. Christ stood as us before God so that we can stand before God as Christ. How special is that, that Jesus did this just for YOU? And He did not stop there- He sends His Spirit back to us when we believe in Him so that we can live a righteous life according to His Word, the Bible. That is the Gospel, that if we believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and rose again, we will not perish, but have everlasting life.If you have not given your life to Christ, pray a prayer of Salvation by repenting of your sins and asking Jesus Christ to come into your heart, save you, and be your Lord. Read Romans 10: 9-10 and John 3:16 for reference.

Prayer LORD Jesus, where You go, I want to follow. I want to walk in Your footprints. Where You lead me LORD, I want to go. With no hesitation or reservation, but with haste. Thank You for caring enough to write out the plans for me in Your love and in Your blood before You laid the foundation of the earth. God, Thank You for being willing to lead me down the straight and narrow path to righteousness so that I may have eternal life and a heavenly inheritance in You and with You. May no other life or way be greater than what You have for me. May nothing else ever be able to satisfy, not even my thoughts or my desires. Give me a heart of humbleness to submit to Your will and Your plan. A heart of discipline and obedience to follow. And a heart of steadfastness to follow through and not give up.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.