Moses Follows the Fire: God Leads Us Through Grief as Our Guiding Light

Have you ever experienced thick fog?

Fog has an incredible ability to muffle all of your senses. Anyone experienced enough to drive in the Central Valley knows that when visibility is low, the best course of action is to pull over. Once the fog clears, you can confidently continue your journey. All you can do while enveloped in the fog is wait…

Have you ever found yourself in a dark cave?

The darkness feels impenetrable! Until someone brings light, it's best to find a wall and hold your ground. In the dark, the only option is to wait...

Could it be that in the midst of loss, when we can’t see where to go, we should pull over for a map? Maybe we should trust someone with a better view to light the way?

Our friend Moses was one of the only people who saw this light first hand.

By Gustave Doré 1832 – 1883

“Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought,

“I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up” (Exodus 3:2-3).

We too must first notice that God is there…

Where exactly does Moses find God?

^“When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground” (Exodus 3:4-5).

Holy Ground!

You remember last week, don't you? (find blog post below: Your Grief is a Sacred Space)

In the sacred space of our hearts, where we experience loss, we confidently called on God to join us!

We boldly invited God to enter beyond our locked door.

We witness His presence on our Holy Ground, where His Holy Spirit dwells as we pray.

And just like Moses receiving the ten commandments, “the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18), we also have the privilege of finding our Lord in His word! “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105).

Setting our feelings aside, we try to follow His light, His word, believing His promises are true.

^"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. ²² Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people” (Exodus 13:21-22).

We start to see God is there as we pray, we read His word and we wait…

^“When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud” (Exodus 24: 13-17).

He never abandons His people in the desert.

We know the story well: He opens a path through the Red Sea, rescues them from the Egyptians, and provides water and food. He guides them through the wilderness. During this journey, God instructs Moses to wait, and in this waiting, Moses experiences God's glory.

“Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Exodus 33:18-19).

God continues to lead His people throughout the Bible…

“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them” (Isaiah 42:16).

God still separates light from any darkness that resides there.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness” (Genesis 1:1-3)

AND God still leads us today…

^“…the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death light has dawned” (Matthew 4:16)

Praise the Lord! He does not just bring the light to the literal shadow of death that is around us, He IS the light!

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’” (John 8:12).

Trusting, waiting, and following—this is the timeless journey of every individual, including ours.

We trust that God is present.

We trust that He listens to us.

We wait for God to join us in our grief.

And we follow His word, confident in His faithfulness to lead us through our darkness to His Restored life.

Friend, He calls you by name!

Respond boldly like Moses, “Here I am.”