Life Beneath the Cloud

  • Friday, June 10, 2011
  • “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord….” Exodus 14:13

    Called out of a second career at a most unlikely season of life, this fugitive murderer, now 80-year-old God-appointed deliverer has timidly, but faithfully confronted the most powerful ruler the day. God has visited his leadership with jaw-dropping miracles of power. Now the long-awaited departure has arrived. With the final validation of Divine blessing being witnessed in the gracious passing of the Death Angel and the preservation of their firstborns, the people are up and ready, eager to begin the journey. So, for seven long days they travel in the desert heat and long nights under the supernatural illumination of the ever-present “cloud.”

     “Where are we going next? How soon will we be there? What are we going to do when we get there? When are we going to eat? What are we going to eat? Do they know we are coming, when we are coming, and that we are going to eat? Are we there yet!?” Inquiring minds want to know!

    Can you imagine the frustration and the text-messaging/Facebook postings/Skype conversations that must have gone on among the 2.5 million trusting followers of Moses when, after a week of travel, the initial enthusiasm has waned and the reality of the journey before them has begun to settle in? Seeming to not to have a “MapQuest” print out or a functioning GPS, they realize they have been zigzagging back and forth within the borders of the nation they have set out to leave. The cherry on top is this—they have been led by Moses to set up camp between two unscalable sheer rock walls on each side and a full sea of water before them. Cozy accommodations for a vacationing family perhaps, but definitely not a strategic move for a nation committed to relocation! Then the terrifying report that an angry Pharaoh is hot on their obvious trail, armed to the gills with 600 select chariots and their officers, with the full strength of his military resources. Now, that is what you call being “stuck between a road and a hard place”!


    "How do we get out of this mess? Where do we go from here? What is your great leadership strategy for THIS contingency? What are you doing and what are you going to do?" Inquiring minds want to know!

    Perhaps you find yourself in Israel’s pilgrim sandals right now. Firmly believing that you have listened to the voice of the Lord, that you have acted in courageous obedience to His direction and that you are walking by faith and not simply by sight, you are now painfully aware that your situation has you stuck between a rock and a hard place. You have studied it from every possible angle, have sought counsel from every possible reasonable source and have simply concluded that your quandary is beyond resolution. You have maxed out all possible scenarios only to conclude that your situation has now gone from bad to hopeless. You, like Israel, in their impossible and impassable box canyon, are crying out for direction.

    The answer? “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today…the Lord will fight while you keep silent!” Exodus 14:13

    That is life lived under the Cloud!

    See you Sunday, Church!
    Pastor Tom


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