You’ve got to move, you’ve got to move,
When the Lord gets ready, you’ve got to move. – Reverend Gary Davis
“And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel encamped. At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel encamped.”-Numbers 9:17, 18
God established a visual reminder of Divine Presence – a declaration to the people of Israel that they were not following the man Moses. How? A cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night rested over the tabernacle. Unless the pillar moved, the Israelites stayed put.
This particular passage fascinates me. Picture Israelite mothers or fathers peering out of their tent each morning and looking toward the tabernacle. They have one concern on their minds: has the cloud moved? Do we need to continue the journey?
While the visible reminder of God’s presence reassured them, the constant possibility of another move kept them from settling into a routine. Perhaps most importantly, the daily discipline of checking in became a physical reminder of their reliance on God.
The cloud and the need to check it daily reoriented the Israelites from a man-centered existence of pharaohs and task masters to an existence focused upon God; God alone.
This idea of dependence upon God is one of the most important outcomes we pursue with the Lab.
We know that for a leader to finish well requires focus on the Lord. Jesus put it this way in Luke 9:62, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God.”
Keeping ones gaze on Jesus does not come naturally (remember when Peter tried to walk on water?)-but it is a practice that can be learned. Barb and I believe the best context in which to acquire these disciplines and develop them is in Christian community.
We created The Lab to provide space, time and a community for young leaders who want to learn how to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus: leaders who move when and where He moves, and wait when He waits.
These are the leaders who last a lifetime in ministry.
Do I invite others into my practice of the spiritual disciplines or do I try to go it alone?
What young leader do I know who would benefit from participating in The Lab?
