I’m remembering the last day of our vacation from a year past.

The morning was typical of me – out of bed at 5AM. The comforting aroma of the coffee dripping enveloped me as I waited for my first sips to fully awaken me. The kitchen was dark as if still the middle of the night. The water and mountains were motionless and black, until about 5:40 when the sun began to rise.

I read my devotional several times, in search of what God would say to me in this moment …

“My Presence continually moves along before you – keeping you from stagnating and showing you the way forward. In spite of the difficulties of the arduous trail you are following, your success is certain: I will be found by you!”  (from Jesus Lives, pages 88-89)

We would be leaving to return home and the days ahead are unknown to each of us. We think we know what they hold but, in actuality, this is presumptuous of us as we truly do not know at all.

I turned in my Bible to read in Exodus where God promises to go with His people. They wandered in the wilderness, longer than ever originally intended, and yet God went with them. He gave them a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. They were in the wilderness, en route to the promise, not sure of the way. The only sure thing was that He was with them.

As the sun rose and the burst of orange spread over the lake and mountains, I remembered – God is also with each one of us. We each are desirous of “success” in the days ahead and for each of us, I imagine “success” looks differently.

And here’s the thing … the only “success” which is certain is that God will be found by us as we individually seek Him. So if success is finding Him, think of this … He was found both in the cloud and in the pillar of fire. He appeared differently at different times of day.

I cannot help but wonder if part of our problem is with our own expectations. Our expectations of what He should be, what He should do, and how He should do it can keep us from finding Him. In other words, we are looking for the pillar of fire when He is the cloud or looking for the cloud when He is in the pillar of fire.

My prayer for the days ahead is simple …

May we each experience the success of simply finding Him in our days.

No expectations.
However He is found.
Whether in the cloud or in the fire.
Simply find Him.

*This is an edited repost.