“But even after all He did, you refused to trust the Lord your God, who goes before you looking for the best places to camp, guiding you with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.” (Deuteronomy 1:33 NLT)
Sometimes I forget we are called to live in tents. I find myself wanting to put down roots and establish a more permanent place of residency. The urge to settle is strong, even moreso as I age. I want to find a place to burrow in and feel safe. The more I think about it, the more I wonder if God doesn’t keep me from comfort on purpose – we don’t grow when we are cozy. We grow when it is too painful to stay the same.
This scripture reminds the reader of God’s omnipresence. We sometimes misplace the fact that God is with us, but He also goes ahead of us, searching out the best path forward. We tend to associate ‘best’ with each, comfortable or even blessed. We fail to recall that God’s idea of ‘best’ is much higher than that: ‘best’ means most-growth-possible. God goes ahead of us and looks for the places that will stretch our faith and multiply our trust. He seeks out campsites that will further contribute to our maturity, not our complacency. He hunts down the physical locations that will most likely make us more like Him.
“From one man He created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and He determined their boundaries. His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward Hi and find Him – though He is not far from any one of us.” (Acts 17:26-27 NLT)
God’s purpose in our geographical placement is far greater than our personal comfort. He plants us for growth. He plants us in places where we are most likely to reach out and find Him, right in the midst of our story. We don’t want to resent that, we want to rejoice in that.
Lord, we struggle with a strong desire to chart our own course. We recognize that our way would more than likely lead to complacency. Forgive us for fighting for the map and compass. We surrender again to Your agenda. We trust that You are plotting out the best course forward – Your idea of best, not ours. Tents are temporary, transitional and not terribly comfortable, but that’s okay because this earth
is not our forever Home. Amen.