Better than a traffic light: how we know to go forward with God
By Dean Collins
Not long ago I was playing with my younger grandchildren and introduced my 3-year-old granddaughter to the game “Red Light Green Light.” One person plays the traffic light and the rest of the participants can go only when the “traffic light” says “Green light.” Everyone must stop when the “traffic light” says “Red light.” If you continue moving after the red light has been announced, you are out of the game. If you manage to get to the traffic light without being caught, then you become the traffic light.
The cloud covering the tabernacle, as recorded in Numbers 9, was a sort of red light/green light. It covered the tabernacle by day, and in the evening it had an appearance of fire. The children of Israel were to move forward whenever God lifted the cloud, and they were to stop whenever the cloud appeared.
The children of Israel were to move forward only when God lifted the cloud.
When I played Red Light Green Light with my grandchildren, I did it to have some fun with them and to occupy their minds and bodies a few minutes while their parents enjoyed a moment of rest. But God’s intention for the cloud and fire was not a game. His purposes were and are much bigger. In the case of the children of Israel, he was forming them into a community that made visible the power and presence of God. His desire was for all nations and all people to experience the glory of God. Part of the process included protection and provision for the children of Israel to form a nation that would in his name bring us all the way to Jesus who would redeem and restore all things. God’s plans are not simply a game; they reveal his love, his mercy, and his glory.
When we fast forward through the centuries of God’s grand story, Jesus told his disciples that after his death he would no longer be with them in person. For the three years the disciples were following Jesus, they didn’t need a cloud or a fire to indicate what they were to do and where they were to go. Jesus told them, and they could see, hear, touch, and follow him.
In chapter 14 of John’s Gospel, we are told that the Holy Spirit is to be our guide until Jesus returns. His role is to be our helper, our protection, our guide, and our peace. Through the miracle of our redemption by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, we now are filled with his Spirit. And led by his Spirit, we are to advance the kingdom of God until Jesus returns in glory. Our role is to share the gospel with everyone in word and by our actions. God does the rest.
Our role is to share the gospel with everyone.
In the game of Red Light Green Light, the prize is to become the one who controls the game. In the grand story of God, we surrender our right to be in charge. Our acceptance of Jesus means we believe God is above all, knows all things, and has a plan for us and for the world that is far better than anything we could ever come up with.
With the Holy Spirit in us, the fruit we reveal to others can be as visible and powerful as the cloud and fire were to the Israelites and surrounding nations. But here’s what’s different about our path forward with God. Our understanding of when to act and when to be still comes from our intimacy with him and through trusting his Spirit to prompt our movements. This is remarkable, but not always easy. I’ll admit there are days I would prefer a red light or a green light to tell me when to act and when to stand down!
Our understanding of when to act and when to be still comes from our intimacy with God.
Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 is critical to our success in following the will of God. Being “strengthened with the power of the Holy Spirit in our inner being” along with having the fullness of Christ and the wisdom of God equipping our journey is our powerful source of help and the surest pathway to God’s peace.
When Moses saw the burning bush and approached to investigate, God told him to take off his shoes because of the holy ground of his presence. In the wilderness, God revealed himself by cloud and pillar of fire. As followers of Jesus, we are filled with the Spirit of God and called to reveal the glory of God through our surrender to him and through the fruit of the spirit that is grown in us.
The Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning once wrote: “Earth is crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God, but only those who see take off their shoes.” God certainly reveals himself in nature everywhere and every day. He also has filled us and called us to allow his glory to reveal itself. In order to achieve God’s plan, we must take off our pride and any resistance to his plan so that those near and far will see him at work in us, and come to know the holy ground and holy ways of God.
Your time with God’s Word
Numbers 9:15-23; Ephesians 3:14-21; John 14:15-17, 26-27 ESV
Photo by Tsvetoslav Hristov on Unsplash
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