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Stops & Steps
“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).
Recently, going through a difficult time in our lives, my wife and I were reminded of what an older sister in the Lord once said.“God guides by stops as well as steps.”My wife had jotted this down long ago in the flyleaf of an old Bible of hers, along with the above verse.
It was a timely reminder for us to realize that there are times when we follow the Lord and times when we stop and rest with Him. How good if we can listen and obey. Otherwise, we lag too far behind or we run too far ahead. Some of us are doers … multitaskers … activists … and we like to keep going. But, sometimes the word is “stop!” For me personally, this is perhaps the hardest thing of all. It reminds me of the word to Ruth from her mother-in-law, at a crossroads in their life. “Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day” (Ruth 3:18). Don’t forget the stops as well as the steps.
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