Make sure that you read part 1 and part 2 that go along with this series!
Exodus 24: 15-18- “Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.”
When we face mountains in life, we have no idea what we are going to encounter along the way. No matter the prognosis, the issue, the situation, we can hope for what WE want, but we never know what God has planned for us through the mountains and trials of life. When Moses goes up on this mountain, the cloud is covering it. Moses had no idea what he was walking into either. And yet, he climbed the mountain as he was instructed.
See, God is in the cloud. God covered the parts that Moses couldn’t see. God is covering you too! He is there, in the midst of the uncertainties of life, covering you completely. God is with us in every single step we take on these mountains in life. And the parts that are scary? He’s there too.
Moses was then called into the midst of the cloud. He was called into the uncertainty. If you’ve ever been in a plane and been inside of a cloud, you know how disconcerting that can be! You can’t see anything, including the ground, the sky, or even the end of the cloud. All you can do is trust the pilot. How many of us are willing to trust a pilot through a cloud but not trust God to get us through the clouds of uncertainty in our lives?
So, when Moses steps into this cloud, He is choosing to trust God. How many of us run from the clouds of life? Or, if we are forced to go through them, we hide from God while we are in them? Maybe you try to take control and get out of the cloud yourself by turning to unhelpful behaviors that make you feel like you have some kind of control. God is teaching us here, through Moses, not to be afraid of the mountains or the clouds that come along. He is with us through them all. He has ordained them all. He has ordered all of the mountains, all of the clouds and all of the steps that we take as we go through them.
So why do we live in fear of God’s will for our lives? Why are we so reluctant to let go of this perceived control that we have and let God be GOD in our lives? What we need to do instead of trying to control the mountains and the clouds of life is to hold fast and let God guide us through it all.
So, Moses sees a cloud. He is on the mountain, and he physically sees a cloud and steps into the cloud as the Lord instructs him. But the people of Israel? They see a devouring fire. At a distance, our problems can seem like these firestorms that devour the good in our lives. The people of Israel were most likely going crazy seeing Moses going near this devouring fire. But Moses, who God was talking to and leading, who was up close and personal with God, saw a cloud and entered it. The people of Israel who were not close to the mountain saw a fire. When we are further away from God, the severity of our problems can look and feel much more urgent and terrifying. When we are close to the Lord, we can rest in the certainty that what might look like a fire to the rest of the world, looks like uncertainty that God is in control of to us.
Not knowing what situation God was going to put him in on that mountain, Moses entered the cloud. He walked in faith.
How often do we see fires where we should see clouds? How often do we mistake what we are seeing in the mountains of life for things that will destroy us instead of things that will bring us closer to God? Do we exaggerate the clouds in our lives and make them into fires in our minds?
I know that I’ve typed a LOT of questions to ponder in this post today, but these are all questions that I asked myself as I was reading these few verses. The power of God’s Word is so consuming, and He wants to teach us so much. When we dig into our scriptures and read deeply, and apply what God is teaching to our lives, it leads us to BIG questions. It is only with big questions that we can get to know ourselves and our God better. God changes us through the questions that He asks us.
Those mountains in life are there for a reason. Let’s all stop questioning ‘Why?’ and instead look to the Lord for guidance for how to navigate the new mountain. When we see fires on the mountain, lets choose to ask the Lord if what we are seeing is a fire, or a cloud of uncertainty. When we are scared and want to hide from it all, let’s look to the Father and tell Him everything that we are feeling. He isn’t angry with us for expressing our emotions to Him! He is sad when we don’t come to Him with what we are feeling and instead ignore His loving presence and peace. He will always give us strength to walk through all of the mountains, clouds, and fires that are on our journey.
At the end of the day, my life journey, and your life journey, is to glorify God. It is to love Him above all things. It is to love others. The mountains, fires, valleys, battles, and even the clouds are all there because God allowed them. I pray that you remember that as you go through life facing difficult things this year. Life isn’t supposed to be easy. It’s supposed to be about loving and serving God. For me, that puts my entire life into perspective. No matter what I do or what I’m facing, I’m facing it with the attitude of serving my Father. I’m facing it with the peace of knowing that I am saved by Jesus. I’m resting in His love for me.
