cloud or crowd

Today, I am struggling with words. Not mine, but that of another. So, in an effort to go to the Word for answers, the Lord has brought me to a passage in Numbers 9. God is preparing the people to enter the Promised Land. He has numbered them and set them out to follow the cloud by day and the fire by night in a wilderness where they could easily be lost. God is teaching them to trust Him in every step, not moving without, ahead or behind Him.
Then Moses said to his father-in-law, “We are setting out to the place of which the Lord said, “I will give it to you; come with us and we will do you good, for the Lord has promised good concerning Israel.”
Would it be that we would say these words- COME WITH ME-I am setting out for the PROMISED LAND-to the place of more, good and what the Lord has. COME AWAY WITH ME and let’s seek what God has for us.
For many of us, we are not seeking this path. We are not following the cloud. We are merely wandering in our wilderness. For others of us, we are ready to set out and trying to get those we care about to come along on the journey. It is a great statement. “I am going, come go with me!”
The response Moses got wasn’t the preferred one. He was hoping to get a “YES, I will go” answer, but instead. This is what he got; “I will not come, but rather will go to my own land and relatives.”
It doesn’t make any sense? Why would you say no? Why would you look at someone who is asking you to come find more of God and say, I think I will NOT choose what God has, even though it is good. Instead, I will choose MY OWN LAND and RELATIVES. In other words, I will choose MY OWN way, my own family, my own path, my own friends, what I like, what I want, my comfort, instead of going with God.
I read these words and thought, IS HE CRAZY? Why would you say-I will not come, rather choose MY OWN? Yet, isn’t that what so many say. Offered a chance at more, knowing it is their good and standing on the edge, they choose their OWN LAND and RELATIVES instead of what God has for them.
For many, when others choose not to go, it deters them. They are hindered by those who say no. They would rather stay with those who refuse to go, than journey on with God. What would have happened if Moses had chosen to NOT go because who he asked to go said no? An entire nation would have missed the promised land. What will happen if we choose NOT to go because those we love are interested in making that journey?
Don’t you think that years later his father-in-law regretted choosing the safety of his LAND and RELATIVES? I don’t know the answer to that. But I KNOW that Moses NEVER regretted moving on. He chose every time to follow the cloud, not the crowd. And so must we. We can ask others to come, but we can’t force them to follow. We don’t beg and we don’t stop going if they choose differently.
The passage ends with Moses SETTING OUT following the cloud, without the one he asked to go.
There will always be those who choose not to GO. Who don’t want to follow the cloud, but the crowd. There will always be those who are more interested in the CROWD than the cloud. The question is….are you that person?
ALL FOR YOU