You Lead, I'll Follow

I love knowledge.  Plain and simple, knowing things and learning things is fun to me, and so I love knowledge.  Maybe I'm a transplant from the Enlightenment era...Anyway, I have been thinking a lot lately about what to do with my future.  I've earned my undergraduate degree in mathematics, but I want to get a Master's and possibly even a Doctorate.  The problem is, I have no idea what those should be in.  Long story short, I was playing the proverbial violin and singing my sad sad song to Beth, and she piped right up to say something that, to be honest, I really didn't want to hear (it works that way too often!).  She said, "Don't you say all the time that we need to grow where we're planted?"

Grr...I hate when she's right!  Especially quoting me!!

All that to say, truth is hard to hear sometimes, and Beth is really good at smashing my violin, slapping me in the face with it, and making me wake up from my self-pitying world - which I would say is a good thing all the time.

Then, as if that weren't enough, God does the same thing this morning (when do I get pity, again?).

In Exodus 40:34-38, Moses is describing the method of travel for the Israelites as they are moving closer to the Promised Land.  I always knew they had the cloud of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by night, but I never saw this,

"Throughout all their journeys, whenever the clooud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out.  But if the cloud was not taken up , then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up."

Not only are they following wherever God leads them to go, but they are waiting when He stops.  And in the mean time, while they are waiting they are worshipping.  From what I understand, this is the point when Israel begins corporate worship; so they move forward when God says more forward, and they wait and worship when He says wait.  I'm pretty sure that God is telling me I should be patiently waiting on Him to move forward with this Masters, even with what it will be when I get it.  I think He's even telling me that I should be patiently waiting on Him anyway, worshipping and growing where I am, instead of trying to run ahead of Him.

Lesson learned, God!  I get it!!

Serves me right for getting that violin out...