SEPT. 7: THE JOURNEY

Focal Passage: Numbers 9:15-23

When I was a little boy in sunny Orlando, my dad often took my older brother and me on bike rides around our neighborhood. We rarely took the same route twice. At the start of each ride, Dad gave us our “jobs.” 

My brother’s task was to ride in the back and “watch out for alligators or bad guys coming from behind” — a role that sounded heroic to my six-year-old ears. 

My job? “Josh, just stay close to me. That’s your only job.” At the time, it seemed boring and insignificant. But as I grew older, I realized why it mattered – Dad knew the route ahead. If I stayed close, I’d be safe and make it home.

The same is true in our spiritual journey. 

Our primary task is to stay close to the Lord — moving when He says move and waiting when He says wait. Ruth expressed this kind of devotion to her mother-in-law in Ruth 1:16–17, and in Numbers 9:15-23, the Israelites lived it daily. 

God’s presence, symbolized by the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, guided them. Sometimes it moved after a day, sometimes after many days (vv. 20–21), but they never moved until the presence of God did.

What a powerful example! Yet how often do we rush ahead of God? In our fast-paced culture, we dislike waiting. We take matters into our own hands, moving according to our plans instead of His. But waiting on the Lord is one of the most vital spiritual disciplines we can cultivate. The Christian life is filled with seasons of waiting — times that test whether we trust His timing or insist on our own.

Spiritual waiting is not passive; it’s active faith. When my wife returned from a mission trip to France, I took our three young boys to the airport to meet her. They were filled with anticipation, scanning the hallway for her arrival. The moment she appeared, they ran toward her with joy. They weren’t aimlessly waiting; they were watching expectantly. Faith doesn’t remove the waiting, but it transforms it — from fear to expectation.

That’s how Israel waited in Numbers 9. They watched the cloud. They were ready to move the instant God led. They understood what Moses declared in Exodus 33:15: “If your presence does not go, don’t make us go up from here.” The journey wasn’t just about reaching the destination — it was about walking in step with the Lord.

So how do you wait? Are you restless and anxious, or watchful and ready? The call for us is to resist the urge to rush ahead and instead stay close to the One who knows the road ahead. His timing is perfect. His presence is enough. The safest place in the journey is right by His side.

Let’s be a people who move when God moves, stop when He stops, and refuse to go without Him. The journey of following Jesus is worth the wait. B&R