The Senselessness of Their Goings

Numbers 33:2

And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the LORD: and these are their journeys according to their goings out.

How the LORD led Israel through the wilderness makes no sense when you look at all the movements. We know the LORD led them because they followed the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, and the LORD is the One who moved those pillars for Israel to follow. God moved Israel over thirty times, and in some of these places where He moved them, there seemed to be nothing happening.

We all have seen God move in our lives, and we often believe that if God is moving us, there is a great purpose for us. However, there are times when we can't see the purpose of God moving, but if He is moving us, we need to trust Him enough to follow Him. Let me share several thoughts about God’s moving in our lives.

First, God sometimes moves just to see if our heart is obedient toward Him. I have not always known why God has allowed me to move in certain times of my life, but I am glad that I have followed Him each time He has moved me. If the only reason I follow God when there seems to be no purpose in moving me is that I am obeying Him, that alone is a great purpose to follow God.

Second, God often moves us to keep us from being stagnant in our Christian walk. It is easy to get comfortable where we are and to stop pushing forward by faith. The only way God can keep us pushing forward by faith is to move us at times. Throughout my adult ministry, I have lived in six different places, and in each of these moves, I have watched God move me to keep me from becoming stagnant. Each move forced me to do something by faith. God often has to jar us out of our stagnancy by moving us so we will continue to live by faith. If the only reason God is moving you is to keep you living by faith, that reason alone will help you to please Him with your life because you cannot please Him without living by faith.

Third, God often moves us to help prepare us for something in the future. Every place I have lived has prepared me for today. I did not know that God was preparing me for today in each of these places I lived, but because I have followed Him, what He was preparing me for has helped me to pastor the great Maranatha Baptist Church. God is always preparing you in the present for something greater in the future, and that is why you must obey and follow Him today.

Fourth, God often moves me to see if I trust Him. Some of God’s movements were to places where Israel needed God to do the miraculous. God’s moving will not always be to a better place, but it is a better place for God to do the miraculous. I think of Dr. Jack Hyles moving from Texas to Hammond, Indiana. God moved him from a larger church to a smaller church, but because he trusted God and followed, God used him to build the largest Sunday school in the world.

My friend, you must be willing to follow the Lord. You will not always understand why He is leading you, but you must obey and trust Him that He knows what He is doing in your life. If you will trust Him enough to follow Him, you will see that God’s greatest work will be done in your life all because you trusted Him enough to follow His leading when His leading did not make sense.