ONLY WHEN THE CLOUD MOVES...

Exodus 40:37 (AMP)

'As long as the cloud stayed there (did not move), they did not move their camp.'

As God lay this scripture on my heart a few days ago, I started to wonder what it would be like if we lived in such an interdependence with God as did the Israelites...?

I mean think about your life? Who is calling the orders? Your employer? Your schedule? Your kids? If God would ask us today to only move when He moves... would we?

My guess is no. We would have so many "legitimate" excuses:

"Lord if I do that, I will get fired! ", "Lord if I do that, I'll lose clients", "Lord if I do that, my kids will be late for their activities and hate me".

To tell you the truth, I don't think in our day and age we even consider that it is possible to live life synchronized to God's rhythm!

As the summer holidays started, I got this strong, gut feeling that God wanted me to take things eeeeeasy... Only, I had websites to finish and a new series of artwork I wanted to have ready for my exhibition in August and I wanted to write the discipleship course I had started and and and...

So last week I started a new painting that I was rather excited about, but then the strangest thing happened: nothing I did would work! My colours wouldn't blend correctly. I did everything exactly as I always do, yet the portrait I was working on looked as if she had had a bad scare lol!

Monday morning I went hiking with a feeling of desperation and blurted out my frustration to God - Who listened patiently as always.

Suddenly I heard Him clear as a bell:

"My hand has lifted from you..."

Stunned, I remembered the verse I had received.

He went on to explain to me in my heart that He had given me the gift of art so we could do art together (which is my usual approach - I paint with God), but that, lately, my focus had changed... I had become too burnt out to focus on anything and, besides, He needs me to rest, in view of the new season that we as a family are to enter into in moving to South Africa shortly.

Immediately I decided to not only stop painting until further notice, but to only do the most important work, and take the rest of the time off. As I walked into my kitchen, my husband looked at me and said, out of the blue: "We must enjoy this summer season and take it really easy".

Within a few hours, all of the important things I had lined up to take care of, simply fizzled out and I found myself doing what I really wanted to, at a very easy pace... and the peace of God was hovering over me! I realized that God wanted me to follow the Cloud of His Presence C-L-O-S-E-L-Y...!

You see, following the Cloud doesn't necessarily mean going against the grain of what life imposes. Well, sometimes it may, but in reality God wants you to trust Him that, when He tells you to do something, and you choose to obey, He will cause everything else will coincide to make it possible for you to do what He had asked.

Once, I heard Justin Abraham say that, at some point in his life, he had felt lead to take Fridays off from work to pray. As he announced this to his boss, privately wondering if it was going to get him fired, not only did his boss accept his demand, but he announced that Justin would still get paid as if he was working as usual! That is what I call Godly favour! But you know what? YOU can expect to have it too, IF you are willing to put God's agenda before your own!

Matthew 6:33 says that if our priority is to seek and find God's Kingdom and to display the character of God in our lives, He will take care of EVERY need we have.

Are you ready to take God at His Word...? Then start your day tomorrow by asking Him what the plan for your day is!