"THE LORD WENT BEFORE!"

Exodus 13:21-22                                                (ESV)
"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, that they might travel by day and by night.
22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people."




Have you ever heard it said of someone "They think they're GOD"!  Usually that occurs right after they once again attempt to get "their way" in a life experience.  Most of the time, when I get "my way", there is heartache soon to follow.  Yet I seem to always have an unquenchable desire to do things the way I think they ought to be done.  Frank Sinatra sang a song in the late 1960's entitled "I did it my way"!  My question is, if you are doing things your way, aren't you afraid your actions will lead you down the wrong path?  Like making a wrong turn when you are going somewhere?

The children of Israel were LED by a pillar of Cloud during the day and a pillar of Fire at night to guide them as they left Egyptian captivity.  The Sinai Peninsula is known for its brutally hot, dry climate.  During the day, the Pillar of Cloud would protect them from the elements of "this world", most likely an extremely hot day.  When evening came, the Pillar of Fire would light the way for them to make sure they were on the right path.  Whether it was day or night, it didn't take long for individuals to get the message that they were "doing it my way" if they left the protection provided by GOD ALMIGHTY!

When we step outside of HIS WILL for our lives, we too can know that we have left HIS protection.  The peace and comfort that only GOD ALMIGHTY brings can never be copied or duplicated by "the enemy", it's just most of the time we are moving at such a pace we "run the STOP sign" that GOD is placing in our lives!  Even when the children of Israel were trapped at the Red Sea, they were following the Pillar and Cloud so they could have trusted that the same GOD WHO spoke the worlds into existence was guiding them where HE wanted them to go!  Pharaoh soon discovered GOD ALMIGHTY wasn't to be challenged!

GOD ALMIGHTY is to be TRUSTED!  We are not smart or wise enough to guide us through one day, let alone our entire lives!  When "THE LORD GOES BEFORE" us HE leads us where HIS Plan is for us to go.  Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV) says "TRUST in the LORD with all thine heart; and LEAN NOT unto thine OWN UNDERSTANDING.  In all thy ways acknowledge HIM, and HE SHALL DIRECT THY PATHS"!!!  The Cloud and the Fire were good enough for the children of Israel.  When "THE LORD WENT BEFORE" me, I will "do it HIS way"!!!