Fire and smoke

It'll be a shorter post this week, for no particular reason. I think the point is a bit easier to make, but a cool visual I hadn't really considered before. The passage that led me to write this week's piece is Exodus 13:17-22. In it, the Israelites are fleeing their enslavement in Egypt, and God is leading them through the wilderness. Let's take a quick look at verse 17 before we go further:

When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land... (Ex. 13:17, NLT)

Now there's almost a whole sermon in that one sentence. God doesn't always lead us by the shortest, most direct, or to us, most logical paths. And when we choose to follow God, we have to understand that this is the case, and not immediately get discouraged or disillusioned when He doesn't seem to be going where we want to go. But like I said...that's a whole separate sermon. The point is that God is leading His people in this passage - and the way He did it must have been visually stunning:

The Lord went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night. (Ex. 13:21, NLT)

Many of you (if not most or all of you) already know this story. You may be thinking to yourself that this is repetitive and there's no new lesson here. And you might be right. But what if the difference between God's guidance by night and by day is deeper than just a visual one (it's easier to see fire at night and smoke during the day)? I like the idea that while God never changes, His help comes to us in different ways depending on our situation.

A fire at a campsite provides light and keeps away predators; similarly, God steers us through the "night" periods of our lives with clear light and direction. He is a refuge for those wandering and stumbling. In the "daylight" of our lives, however, God may not seem so necessary. Things are going well, or seem more hopeful, and the tendency is to look to our own devices and ignore God's direction. Yet how does smoke affect us? Not seeing smoke from a distance, but when you encounter smoke up close? For me, it is an irritant. I don't mean that to sound irreverent, but I find the "smoke" representation of God to be a perfect one. When things seem to be going well for me, I need that occasional wisp of smoke to hit my eyes, my throat, my lungs, making me at once aware of God's presence, my watering eyes and coughing symbolizing my need to be aware and receptive to Him even when I can steer myself through the light of day.

The next couple of weeks, I'll be focusing on the book of Matthew. Thanks, and have a great week!