From His Victorious Indwelling -Nick Harrison, Editor

I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.

Psalm 119:60 KJV

Don't be in a hurry to run ahead of God.

When the Israelites were crossing the Jordan they were told to leave a great space between themselves and the guiding ark, that they might know how to go, because "they had not passed that way heretofore." Impatiently hurrying at God's heels is apt to lead us astray. Let Him get well in front, that you may be quite sure which way He wants you to go, be sure that He does not at that moment want you to go anywhere.

We need to hold the present with a slack hand, so as to be ready to fold our tents and take to the road if God wills. We must not presume continuance, nor strike our roots so deep that it needs a hurricane to remove us.

To those who set their gaze on Christ, no present from which He wishes them to move can be so good for them as the new conditions into which He would have them pass.

It's hard to leave the spot, though it be in the desert, where we have so long encamped that it has come to look like home. We may look with regret on the circle of black ashes on the sand where our little fire glinted cheerily, and our feet may ache and our hearts ache more as we begin our tramp once again, but we must set ourselves to meet the God-appointed change cheerfully, in the confidence that nothing will be left behind which it is not good to lose, nor anything met which does not bring a blessing, however its first aspect may be - harsh or sad.

We need, too, to cultivate the habit of prompt obedience. The above motto is the only safe motto. Slow obedience is often the germ of incipient disobedience.... It's easiest to do our duty when we are first sure of it. It then comes with an impelling power which carries us over obstacles on the crest of a wave, while hesitation and delay leave us stranded in shallow water. If we would follow the pillar, we must follow it at once.

A heart that waits and watches for God's direction, that uses common sense as well as faith to unravel small and great perplexities, and is willing to sit loose to the present, however pleasant, in order not to miss indications which say, " Arise! This is not your rest" - fulfills the conditions on which, if we keep them, we may be sure that He will guide us by the right way, and bring us at last to the city of habitation.

Alexander MacLaren