New Year Meditations - Guidance

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, ‘This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Exodus 12:1‭-‬2 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/exo.12.1-2.NIVUK

After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. Exodus 13:20‭-‬22 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/exo.13.20-22.NIVUK

Satellite navigation is quite simply a wonderful thing. One of mankind's most useful inventions, nowadays it's used in aviation, shipping, land transportation, deliveries of all varieties... It has so many applications. Now we can even access it from our mobile phones. We have used it numerous times to avoid getting lost. One time we were driving to a new location in the south of the island where my wife's family live. The navigation system in their van didn't cover the roads, so we used a mapping application on my phone, which also came with a voice, telling us where go. Only my nieces and nephews didn't appreciate it. "That woman is just so annoying!" one of them protested. Guidance is often necessary, especially if we go to a new place or a road layout had changed. There is absolutely no doubt that the Israelites needed it. They had lived in Egypt for 430 years (Exodus 12:40-41). Any knowledge they'd had of the desert roads would have long gone. They also left in haste (Exodus 12:39). They'd had no time to discuss potential routes with traders. Plus, we aren't talking of a small travelling caravan of tens of people. They numbered approximately a million. This was a mammoth undertaking. Here they were, stuck in between the desert on one side and a return to slavery on the other; between familiarity with a lack of freedom and the complete unknown. This was extraordinarily hard. We might find ourselves in the same position. We don't really have a choice. 2021 will happen if we want it to or not. The difference is what we take into it. Do we take a fearful mindset, anxious to take with us whatever comforts and familiar things we can, even if they enslave us? Or are we willing to head into the desert in faith that God will guide us? God knew that His people would prevaricate. He knew He could not depend on them to follow Him through the desert unless He did something drastic. That's why we see these two huge miracles: the pillars of fire and cloud, which lead them to the place He needs them to be. We will not see either of these pillars. However, at this point in our journey, at this transition point, we do get to choose. Do we follow Him into an unknown future, or do we try and retreat back to the known life of a slave? If 2020 has taught us anything, it's that we are not in control. We do not hold the wheel. We need to trust the hands of Him who does. And if we seek His guidance and live His way, then the desert should hold no fears for us.