Exodus 40

Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys. ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭40‬:‭36‬-‭38‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The cloud that led the Israelites on their journey is a symbol of the Holy Spirit leading our lives today.   How do we “hear from God?”  The prophet Isaiah wrote “Your own ears will hear Him.  Right behind you a voice will say, ‘This is the way you should go,’ whether to the right or to the left” (Isaiah 30:21).  What a comforting thought to know that we are not left on our own to figure things out.  God has promised to walk with us and at times even to carry us on our life’s journey.  Sometimes when we struggle to hear God’s direction, it may be because there are so many other thoughts swirling around in our brains that we just fail to hear His voice (see 1 Kings 19:11-13).  Most experts agree that we all have 50,000-70,000 thoughts running through our brain on an average day.  All that noise may be drowning out the gentle, quiet whisper of our heavenly Father who is standing with us and willing to tell us where we should go, if only we would quiet our minds and listen.  It says in Psalms 46:10 to “Be still, and know that I am God.”  The next time you need to know what path to take, free yourself from all the chattering and opinions that swirl in your thought life and listen for the still small voice of God.  It will be the voice that guides you to make a choice that lines up with the principles in the Bible.  Once you start to follow God’s prompting you will have inner peace, which will be the sign that you are, in fact, following His will.