TEXT:
Psalms 92:13-14
13 Those that he planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.

INTRODUCTION:

  A. SOME THINK THEY'RE LED WHEN THEY'RE ON THEIR OWN
    1. Some think they are being led when in fact they are pursuing their own course.
    2. God "plants" us in the house of the Lord, and if we will submit to this we will flourish.
    3. This is what the Psalmist said in the text.

  B. GOD' S LEADERSHIP MEANS WE FOLLOW HIS PURPOSES
    1. Peter was an impulsive man.
    2. Jesus told him that one day he would be carried where he did not want to go.
    3. Afterwards, he would no longer be the impulsive, stubborn man he once had been.
    4. In like manner, Jesus calls us from our stubbornness to be His servants.
    5. We must give up our goals for His goals.

  C. GOD’S LEADERSHIP IS GOOD
    1. When Israel came out of the land of Egypt, God had a plan for them.
    2. They had been a nation of slaves, and now they would be a free people.
    3. They were going to be a people with whom the world must reckon.
    4. All of this was because of God's leadership.

I. FORTY YEARS ON A FEW DAYS JOURNEY
 
  A. GOD WAS LEADING THEM TO CANAAN
    1. Canaan was only a few days journey from the Egyptian border.
    2. It was just across the Sinai Peninsula.
    3. However, they wandered for forty years in the wilderness.

  B. WHY DID IT TAKE THEM SO LONG?
    1. God can't lead if you won't follow.
    2. Have you ever thought you were leading someone, just to find that they have turned off?
    3. God refuses to play such games.
    4. They wandered for 40 years in the desert because they would not submit to God's leadership.
    5. We don't want to become a wandering people.
    6. Therefore, it's important that we follow God's leadership.
 
II. FOLLOWING GOD'S LEADERSHIP

  A. GUIDANCE IS A COMMUNITY MATTER
    1. We hear a lot of talk today about God's guidance.
    2. The vast majority of what is said only deals with personal guidance.
    3. We are in danger of over-emphasizing personal guidance to the exclusion of God's
        corporate or community guidance.
    4. Community guidance involves a whole community of people, such as a church.
    5. A community will always have God ordained leadership, such as Moses was to Israel.
    6. This leadership in a local church is the pastor.

  B. WHAT ABOUT PERSONAL GUIDANCE?
    1. We teach that the Holy Spirit should have free reign in our lives.
    2. The Bible tells us that those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God.
    3. God does guide individuals, but that is not all there is to it.

  C. GUIDANCE IS NOT JUST PERSONAL
    1. We are not only guided by the Holy Spirit personally, but we are guided by the Holy Spirit
        through our leaders.
    2. God doesn't just direct individuals, He also directs churches.
    3. This is an important matter when we are considering the possibility of leaving one church and
        going to another.

III. REASONS WHY PEOPLE MISS GOD'S GUIDANCE

  A. SOME FAIL TO RECOGNIZE IT'S EXISTENCE
    1. Many people fail to recognize the community dimension of God's guidance.
    2. They have such a poor view of the modern day church that they can't believe God would
        ever guide it.
    3. They fail to understand that if Christ loved the church enough to die for it, He will also love
        it enough to guide it.
    4. They forget that God's sheep are in a flock.
    5. They want to think of themselves as the Lone Ranger.
    6. The lone Christian gets the idea that he is the only one who matters to God.
    7. I've heard many people say, "Me and God, we've got our own thing going..."
    8. However, God’s  guidance is not just a private affair (between them and the Lord).
    9. Those who think so, are missing the safety that is found in wise counsel.
  10. They have a hard time understanding that if they stay in a local church community, they will
        be led by God.

  B. SOME ARE TOO STUBBORN TO SUBMIT TO IT
    1. Too often, they have deceived themselves.
    2. What they're  really afraid of is that, if they submit to God’s guidance in a church, it might
        oppose their stubbornness.
    3. They might not get their own way.
    4. They may be expected to actually put down some roots rather than jumping from one pipe
        dream to another.

IV. WAITING ON THE CLOUD

  A. ISRAEL WAS TO FOLLOW THE CLOUD
    1. Wherever His cloud or pillar of fire went, they were to follow it.
    2. It was very simple.
    3. Just follow the cloud!
    4. But this bothered them!
    5. They didn't know how to plan around it.
    6. What if they had a yard sale planned, and the cloud moved in the middle of their big event?
    7. They wanted something more predictable.

  B. GOD LEADS FOR GOOD REASONS
    1. When God leads, He leads for good reasons. But He often keeps those reasons to himself.
    2. The cloud protected Israel in a situation where they could not survive without it.
    3. It may not be as obvious, but we are equally dependent upon God's presence.
    4. He may lead us into experiences and situations we would not choose for ourselves.
    5. However, if we don't stay under the blessing of His presence, we will perish in the wilderness
        just like many of the Israelites..

  C. AT TIMES THE CLOUD DIDN'T MOVE FOR A LONG WHILE
    1. The cloud remained some places only a day or two, a week or two, and others for a year.
    2. Those must have been difficult times for Israel.
    3. I'm sure they grew anxious!
    4. And what about us today? "I'm saved, I have the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the gifts of
        the Spirit; I'm going someplace fast--if somebody will just tell me where to go."
    5. When you're going to Canaan, you don't want to sit in one place in the desert for a year.
    6. Day after day you look at the cloud, but it doesn't move.

  D. HOW SOME RESPOND WHEN THE CLOUD DOESN'T MOVE
    1. Some become agitated and irritable.
    2. They begin to blame the leadership for the cloud not moving.
    3. They claim the leadership is either in sin or else not anointed.
    4. They refuse to consider the idea that it might be their own stubbornness that's causing
        the problem.
    5. The cloud remained in one place for a year because the people were not ready to go on.
    6. It wasn't Moses' fault.  It was the stubbornness of the people.

V. THE CLOUD DOES NOT FOLLOW US

  A. YOU CANNOT FORCE GOD TO FOLLOW YOU
    1. You can't just go anywhere you please and expect God's blessing to follow you there.
    2. The pattern of God' s visitation on your life and your church is erratic like the moving of
        the cloud..
    3. You cannot predict where you will find it.

  B. PASTORS CAN'T FORCE GOD TO FOLLOW THEM EITHER
    1. I have seen pastors make this same mistake.
    2. They experienced God's blessing in one place and assumed that they could do the same
        thing anywhere else they wanted to go.
    3. They thought they could just carry God's cloud around with them.
    4. They thought the cloud followed them rather than them following the cloud!
    5. But when they carried out their plans, they found out otherwise.