“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. They might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, did not depart from before the people.”
– Exodus 13:21–22
What a picture. What a way that travel. When it’s time to go somewhere, this cloud rises and starts moving. So the people just follow the cloud. And then when it’s dark and you can’t see the cloud in the same way, there’s fire that rises, and leads, and guides, it stops at a certain place, so you stop. It goes to a certain place you go with it. What a great picture of God’s loving leadership and guidance in the life of his people. He doesn’t leave them to just figure this thing out on their own. He he personally provides direction, and guidance, and where to go, when to go there.
As a follower of Christ, you have the Spirit of God in you.
Exodus 13:21–22 Reminds Us that God is Always With Us
Now I think about this when it comes to my life, just every day, your everyday life, and then decisions that I make. I think about hard decisions that we make, where we wonder, oh God, what do you want me to do here? I’m guessing you, like I, struggle with those decisions. Sometimes we want to obey God, we want to follow his will, but we’re not sure exactly what the right decision is to make in every circumstance.
But here’s the good news from Exodus 13:21–22. God has shown us very clearly in his word, that he does not try to hide his will from us. He wants to lead us. He wants to guide us, to direct us. Our steps, our every step, just like he did here. Now, you might think well, I wish I kind of had a pillar of cloud or a pillar of fire to lead me. We have something better. So much better.
We don’t just have this physical picture we can look to, we have the Holy Spirit of God actually living inside of us. You want to know how much God wants us to experience his will? He wants us to experience his will so much that he is come to live inside of us, to transform and direct our thoughts, our desires, our dreams, our plans, our decision-making. Jesus says, “I will give you the Comforter, my Holy Spirit, who will dwell in you. He’s the helper. He’s going to live in you.” He’s not going to give you directions on where to go, he’s going to direct you on a daily basis. What a glorious reality.
This Verse Encourages Us to be Led by Christ
So I just want to encourage you today, as a follower of Christ, you have the Spirit of God in you. You’ve got someone, something in that sense, better than a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. So we look to God and we pray, God lead on. By your Spirit in us, lead on. Lead us all day long. We pray, help us to stay in step with your Spirit. Help us not to wander from you into temptation and sin. God help us to be pure and holy. Help us to walk in obedience to you, your word, your commands. And as we do, we trust that you will lead us. You will guide us, and you will direct us, just as you’ve done for your people throughout history.
That even greater ways than we’re reading about here in Exodus, you lead and guide us by your Spirit in us. So help us to pray in the Spirit. Help us to walk in the Spirit. God, help us to the love in the Spirit. Help us to serve in the Spirit. Help us to work in the Spirit. That everything we do, would be done in, under, through, as a result of the leadership of your Spirit in us.
God may that be our reality today. May we know it. God, may we know it. May we realize nothing is natural here. This is supernatural. You’re leading, guiding us every day in all that we do. All glory be to your name for your loving guidance and leadership of our lives. So help us to make decisions according to your word and your will. Help us to think and desire, according to your word and your will. Direct and lead and guide us all day today, we pray. By your Spirit, in Jesus name, amen.
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David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
