In Numbers 9, I notice first that the Lord is still speaking in Moses' wilderness. A year after Israel's deliverance from Egypt, God is still speaking to the man that never wanted to lead. I love that. I also love that, when Moses was approached with a question concerning God's law by the people, his answer was, "Wait, and I will listen to what the Lord will command", because again, Moses never wanted to lead.
But my favorite part of this chapter is the cloud. It wasn't just a one-time, come and go cloud; it was continuous. It signified God's presence, and Israel refused to move without it. They camped when it remained over the tabernacle, and they set out when it moved. Even if it remained a few days, or several, a month or a year, morning or evening, they did not move unless it moved first. When the cloud settled (the word here means "to dwell and to rest"), Israel would also settle. It also says Israel lingered (which I learned means "to prolong and postpone; to draw out").
I think those words are supposed to mean something to me, so I have been processing them with the Spirit, and I have come up with this: I can get the waiting, and the not moving, but the rest? Not usually what I'm doing in the waiting moments of my life! Especially when I'm surrounded by my own wilderness: when everything around my faith seems dry and thirsty for a fresh word. In fact, I would say I am a pretty high-energy person; full of unrest, and packed with anticipation. My feet are always positioned to go!
But God was training His people, and He is still training me. He gave Israel a visual of His constant Presence; teaching them to settle, to rest, and to trust Him. And I know that He wants me to choose this "cloud-rest" today as well.
So, I'm going to camp, and I'm going to remain in the commands I've already been given. I'm going to drive in the stakes of obedience, and I'm going to spread my pallet down in the dry and the desolate. I will trust that the rocks will produce my water, and that the sky will fill me with the day's manna. I will wait to hear the Spirit's promptings, and I will keep my head lifted up until the cloud moves on and beckons me to follow. I will station my feet, and I will unload my bag of anxious, and I'll just sit underneath this cloud and settle.
(Yeah, it's going to be a long day!)
