Where the Cloud Rests

At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents. NUMBERS 9:18

Meyer called the ninth chapter of Numbers an exquisite picture-lesson on guidance, and he quoted the whole passage at the end of The Secret of Guidance as though nothing he could add would improve it. Over the tabernacle in the wilderness stood the cloud: a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night. When it lifted, Israel struck camp and followed. When it stayed, Israel stayed — whether for a night, or two days, or a month, or a year. They did not move because the pasture was poor or the view had grown dull. They did not stay because they were comfortable. They watched the cloud.

It is a lesson more about waiting than about moving, and that is why most of us find it hard.

Whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed. NUMBERS 9:22

Stand still until you know

Meyer’s counsel on waiting is blunt. “If you do not know what you ought to do, stand still until you do.” He knew how hard that is. There are times, he says, when everyone insists that something must be done, when the Egyptians are behind, the cliffs on either hand, and the sea in front. It is not easy then to stand still and see the salvation of God. But we must.

His warning example is Saul. Samuel had told the king to wait for him at Gilgal, and when the prophet seemed late and the people were slipping away, Saul forced himself and offered the sacrifice. Meyer calls it the great mistake of his life. Saul did not lack zeal or courage. He lacked the patience to let God come in God’s time, and he acted rather than be seen to do nothing.

Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day. EXODUS 14:13

There is a practical side to this that Meyer spells out in his address on burdens. If you are not sure of God’s will, he says, it is a good way in dealing with Him to tell Him you will stay where you are, or go on doing what you have been doing, until He makes quite clear what He wants and gives you the power to do it. That is not laziness. It is putting the responsibility for change on God, and trusting Him to make any alteration plain enough that even a dull servant cannot miss it.

God’s delays

The hardest part of waiting is that God seems slow. Meyer does not pretend otherwise. There was delay, he writes, before Sennacherib’s army lay dead round Jerusalem; delay before Jesus came walking on the sea in the fourth watch; delay before He came to Bethany, and before the angel woke Peter on the night before his execution. God stays long enough to test the patience of faith, but never a moment beyond the hour of real need.

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. HABAKKUK 2:3

In Our Daily Walk he returns to the theme under a title that has become a proverb: “God’s delays are not denials.” He points to the angel at the Jabbok, who waited until Jacob could wrestle no more before He blessed him; to the Syrophenician woman, whom Jesus answered only when she fell at His feet; to Lazarus, whom He let die. In every case, Meyer says, God was not neglectful but waiting, at no small cost to His own heart, until we had come to the end of ourselves and He could do more than we had dared to ask.

And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. ISAIAH 30:18

This is a comfort, and it is also a searching. Much of what we call waiting on God is really waiting for God to agree with us. Meyer’s waiting is different. It is the waiting of a will that has already said yes and only wants to know where.

The shut door

Waiting is not always a matter of sitting still. Sometimes God guides by closing. Meyer’s favourite example is Paul’s second journey, when the apostle tried to go into Asia and was forbidden, then tried Bithynia, and the Spirit suffered them not (Acts 16:7). The little band found themselves at Troas, facing the sea, with nowhere left to go. That night came the vision of the man of Macedonia.

After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. ACTS 16:7

“The Spirit of Jesus often shuts doors in the long corridors of life,” he writes in Our Daily Walk. We walk along trying one after another, and they are locked, so that we may come to the one He has opened. And the open door may be small. When Paul reached Philippi he found no crowd, only a few women at a place of prayer by the river. But one of them was Lydia, whose heart the Lord opened, and a church began. “A small door may lead to a vast opportunity.” The lesson is not to despise the one door left open because it looks too narrow for our hopes.

When it is time to move

It would be easy to turn all this into a charter for indecision, and Meyer did not intend that. The same book that says stand still says also that God usually speaks through deliberate thought, weighing the reasons for and against. In Our Daily Walk he is plainer still. Where our judgement can reach a right conclusion, he says, we are left to think the matter out; use the materials within reach, balance them, look to God to keep you from mistake, and act. And once you have decided in faith and prayer, go forward, not doubting or looking back.

And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. ISAIAH 30:21

So there is a time to wait and a time to walk, and the wise Christian needs both. Meyer’s rule of thumb is simple: when the three witnesses agree, move; when they do not, wait; and in the meantime do faithfully the duty that lies in front of you. The cloud that rests over the tent today will lift tomorrow, and the manna will be on the ground wherever it next comes down.

Leaving the plan with Him

Underneath all his counsel on waiting lies a single conviction: the government of our lives is on Christ’s shoulder, not ours. “Put the government of your life upon His shoulder, and leave Him to execute His plan,” he writes. Do not get anxious or flurried. Tell Him, if need be, that you will stand still until He puts His arms under you and carries you where He would have you be.

Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. PSALM 37:5

That is not the counsel of a man who never had to wait. It is the counsel of a man who had learned, often slowly, that God’s pace is not ours and is better.

FOR REFLECTION AND ACTION

1. Is there a matter in which you are pressing ahead because waiting feels like failure? Consider Saul at Gilgal, and ask whether you need to stop.

2. Try Meyer’s practical rule: tell God you will go on as you are until He makes a change plain. Then do today’s duty faithfully.

3. Think of a door God has shut in your life. Can you now see anything He opened because of it?

4. Look for the small door. Is there a modest opportunity in front of you that you have despised because it seemed too little?

5. Where your judgement can decide, stop waiting for a sign. Weigh the matter, pray, decide, and go forward.

A PRAYER

Lord, You lead Your people by a cloud that does not move to our timetable. Teach me to watch it.

When I must wait, give me patience; when You delay, keep me from thinking You have forgotten.

Shut the doors You do not want me to enter, and give me eyes to see the small door You have opened.

And when it is time to move, give me courage to go forward without looking back. Amen.