He Goes Before

In Deuteronomy 1:33 God is described as the One who “went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and the cloud by day.”  God is the One who went before them. Is that something that is specific to only the Children of Israel and their deliverance from Egypt?  Nope.  We see Him do this with all His people throughout Scripture and much of the New Testament declares this truth about God.

In John 1:47-51 when Jesus called His first disciples we read that He saw Nathaniel while he was reading, before his friend came and told him to come and meet Jesus.  This floored Nathaniel but Jesus promised that he would see even greater things than that. 

Colossians 1:17 declares that Jesus is before all things and in Him all things consist.

Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we are His workmanship, created in Christ for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we might walk in them.

2 Timothy 1:9 declares that God has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before time began. 

So why does this matter? Because this truth needs to sink down deep into our hearts and become part of its core.  If we truly understood that He is before us in what He calls us to, would we be more excited to say “Yes!” when He calls us to serve Him?  Our scheming and backup plans would not exist if we would own this truth.  He is before you, so when He calls you to something, He knows what He’s doing, and He will provide what we need to accomplish it.  How I want this truth to rule in my heart and mind!

Instead I doubt or become anxious about whether the result will be what I want, or begin to worry about my comfort.  As a result, I am unwilling to serve Him in certain areas or lay down my life and let Him FULLY rule.  And so I miss the blessing of walking by faith.  I sit on the sidelines and watch others say “Yes!” even when it’s hard and they don’t understand how God’s going to work this out.  I sit on the sidelines unwilling to prove Him and His promises.  I sit out because I think He’s asking me to do something He really doesn’t know about.  I behave as though He has NOT gone before me and is aware of what He’s calling me to do. 

So what is the remedy?  It’s a hefty reminder of His past faithfulness.  Moses constantly reminded the Children of Israel of God’s faithfulness to them, and we need those reminders in our own lives.  When you said “yes!” to the Lord in the past, what did you learn of Him and His ability?  How did your faith grow?  Did you find that He enabled you to do what he was calling you to?  Thinking about those times, can you see that He truly did go before you?

Now, let’s tie this up with a beautiful reminder of what still lies before us.  According to Ephesians 2:6, once we receive Christ, we obtain a seat at the table in the heavenlies with Him. Not standing in the back of a room, just one of the crowd, no we are SEATED. And with whom?  With Christ, who has gone before us paid the price for our sin, reconciled us to God and rose victorious.  He now sits in Heaven at the right hand of the Father. He is whom we are seated with.  He has gone before us even in this! 

That our lives might look like individuals who emphatically say “Yes!” to our Champion who has gone before us and offers us the opportunity to walk with Him.