Perhaps today you know what it is to be alone. What I mean is, you have had to say goodbye to someone, perhaps permanently or for a season, whatever length; now it’s just you, the landscape looks different today.
“Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. 14 He said to the elders, ‘Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.’ 15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” (Exodus 24 v 13-18)
Moses left the elders behind, and Aaron and Hur would handle any disputes. Even Joshua could come only part of the way.
Sometimes, you have to step away from others for a time. Maybe this lonely place will become the place you meet God most deeply.
Is today another one of those days when God isn’t saying anything to you? You have lost the voices of your friends and even your closest, and now even God is silent. Hold on; this could be the six days. The seventh is coming.
Then comes the remarkable revelation. “To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire.” From the bottom of the mountain, the cloud of glory looked like danger. From a distance, people may look at you and see what you are going through as something that could destroy you. But they can’t see what God is doing inside the cloud.
On the night before the cross, Jesus prayed, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you” (John 17:1). The glory looked like an excruciating cross, and it was. On earth it was shame and agony. But from God’s perspective, it glorified Him.
What you’re walking through may look like fire right now. It may feel like a cross. But in God’s hands, the pain can become the place where His glory is revealed.
How long will this last? This is a genuine question for those in this season. Moses stayed. “Forty days and forty nights.” Elijah walked forty days and nights to that same mountain (1 Kings 19:8). Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness. We all want the hard season over as soon as possible. Sometimes it lasts a while.
So if you’re in the cloud today, stay. Don’t fear. The cloud is not where God abandons you. It’s where He will speak.
