February 1

“³⁴Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

³⁶ In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; ³⁷ but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. ³⁸ So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.” (Exodus 40:34-38) NIV

            As Christians, we must understand that we are on a journey; God is taking us from glory-to-glory, from revelation-to-revelation. God brought us out of our Egypt and we are all moving towards our promise land. What we must understand is that God’s journey is different from a natural journey of leaving a place to get to another. Even as the physical promise land represents an actual geographical place where we must all arrive in due time; there is a greater journey or growth that must take place in our hearts. There was a way of taking this trip from Egypt to the promise land in a matter of days; however it took forty years; why? Because there was much work to be done in their hearts; there was a greater lesson to be learned; a lesson that we must all learn today.

            In order for our journeys to be successful we must learn to move with God’s glory. The children of Israel saw the cloud of God’s glory. That glory protected them from the scorching heat of the day and from the agonizing cold of the night. This is significant because we, as God’s people, must understand that God will take care of his people in spite of who is in power, the condition of our economy, the unemployment statistics, the price of gas, etc.

            We are not exempt from pain; but we are well taken care of by our Father in the midst of all. Many of us are making decisions base on a false sense of financial security or convenience. However, we are moving outside of God’s glory and then we wonder why we are not being protected from the heat of the day and the cold of the night. The amazing life and power of God’s people is that we can rise up above circumstances; we have access to peace in the middle of all hell breaking loose against us and we have access to joy when we should be devastated. That is the power of God’s glory and when we suffer, we suffer with hope and may I add, with great purpose. Know for sure that you will enter the promise land; but only if you move with the cloud of His glory.