The Holy Nudging

Numbers 9:15–18 (HCSB)

“On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony, and it appeared like fire above the tabernacle from evening until morning. It remained that way continuously: the cloud would cover it, appearing like fire at night. Whenever the cloud was lifted up above the tent, the Israelites would set out; at the place where the cloud stopped, there the Israelites camped. At the LORD’s command the Israelites set out, and at the LORD’s command they camped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they camped.”

He led them by the cloud. It was hard to mistake His guidance. A moving cloud of fire is obvious.

Does the Lord guide us today? Absolutely. The difference now is that the guidance is not external but internal. Now He leads us by His Holy Spirit.

We can read passages like this and wish we were in their place. It would wonderful to be guided by a pillar of fire. It would be awesome to see the presence of God resting on His tabernacle.

A burning cloud is an advantage in the guidance department. But we have a greater advantage, something they could not in their wildest dreams even imagine. We have a relationship! We have His Holy Spirit living in our hearts!

We have to train ourselves to recognize His moving. This training comes by responding to His nudging. The more we respond, the more acute His nudging becomes.

May the promptings of the Holy Spirit become as obvious in us as the moving cloud was to them.