Following the Cloud

As we begin to go through things and get rid of stuff and pack up our lives to move I am for the first time not having huge anxiety about moving. I have to say this non anxiety state is only by the grace of God. God has brought me here by many events in my life as well as His word.
After God delivered His people from Egypt and they are in the wilderness, and very unsettled I might add, God leads them by a cloud by day and fire by night. Exodus 13:21, "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. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people. " (and you thought us moving to Uganda was ridiculous....how about following a cloud.....) I wonder what I would have been like following this cloud. I can imagine myself complaining and thinking, "Why are we following this cloud ?" Moses probably would have reminded me that God just delivered me from slavery in a miraculous way, and that I should trust and obey. I probably would have even said something like, "easy for you to say Moses, God spoke to you through a burning bush" (hopefully you see the humor in that......it's a joke).
Over the past week God has placed different scripture in my life and different people who have been reading the same scripture to bring an even deeper idea of following the cloud. In Numbers 9:15 the Israelites are still in the wilderness and following the cloud by day, fire by night that sets over the tabernacle that was built in Exodus. "And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped" Numbers 9:17. Can you imagine what it was like to follow the cloud? To have total dependence and not know where God was going to take you but relying on the promises He had made? To be ready to pick up everything and move in such a short notice. To wonder if today was the day the cloud was going to move and you were going to have to move AGAIN to follow it? To always be ready and watching for the cloud to move. Wondering how long it would stay this time. I think that I find myself in a similar position. I often wonder why we just can't just settle down somewhere. But God continues to teach me that He wants me to have total reliance on him. Not on things I hold onto in this world. That is what He wanted from the Israelites. TOTAL DEPENDENCE.
For most of my life I have lived rather unsettled although all of it was not under God authority. I think God has used this in my life to teach me about letting go of control. You see if I can control a situation then I don't have to fear as much, especially from the unknowns. And when I am fearful I am not trusting in God. I am learning that I don't need to be in control in order to be happy. I just need to trust in God standing on His promises and knowing He knows what is best for my life, and for my kids lives. I just need to stay close to Him through word and prayer and be okay with the unknowns.


Letting Go and Following the Cloud,
Michaela