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Exodus 13:21-24: Time to Move

This week I have been reminded of the Exodus. When the people left the only homes they had even known in Egypt to go to what God had promised them, how did God lead them? What went before them? (A fiery pillar/column of cloud that they could follow night or day.) This pillar would lead them from location to location for a whole generation. Some places they would stay for a long time. Some places they would stay for a short time and some places they would avoid altogether as God led them on a circuitous route eastward. Every time the pillar of fire/cloud would stir, it was time for them to pack up, move and follow God to a new location.

This is not unlike our vocation and experience as Salvation Army Officers. Every time God stirs headquarters hearts like He did the pillar of fire/cloud, it is time for us Officers to move. At some locations we stay for a long time; others we stay for a short time and there are others, of course, that Susan and I have missed altogether as God has been leading our family eastward and now back towards home again. Susan, the two older girls and I followed God from Victoria to Vancouver’s DTES where we stayed for a couple of years. We then followed His leading to Winnipeg where we stayed another couple of years and then Nipawin and Tisdale in Saskatchewan before he led us to Swift Current where God has allowed us to serve Him for six years and He has even blessed us with another member of the Ramsay clan while we were there. Next God led us away from the West to Toronto,

We have certainly been blessed but now the pillar of fiery cloud is stirring again. It is time to pack up our belongings and follow God to His next place for us. We have no idea how long we will be there; we just know that like the Hebrews whom God called out of Egypt, the Ramsays as we were called out of Victoria, will need to keep following the Lord and -unlike the Israelites- we need to do it without grumbling so that we may experience the joy that can only be found in obedience to the Lord.

And so today the fiery cloud is stirring and we are packing up to be on the move again. We are here for another few weeks and we though do not know our penultimate temporal destination, we do know our next stop on the road and we do know that as we are faithful then our ultimate destination of our lifelong journey will be in the Eternal Kingdom, the Age to Come, Everlasting Life.

So as we go forward from today, following God in a manner akin to the fiery pillar of cloud, know that you are in our hearts and in our minds and that we will always cherish your friendship and all that the Lord has taught us through each and everyone of you with whom we have traveled for a while on our journey. May God continue to bless you as greatly as He has blessed us through you, for now and forever more. In Jesus Name, amen.
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