Presented to Swift Current Corps, 21 June 2015
by
Captain Michael Ramsay
This week I
have been reminded of the Exodus. When the people left the only homes they had
even known in Egypt to go to what God had promised them, how did God lead them?
What went before them? (A fiery pillar/column of cloud that they could follow
night or day.) This pillar would lead them from location to location for a
whole generation. Some places they would stay for a long time. Some places they
would stay for a short time and some places they would avoid altogether as God
led them on a circuitous route eastward. Every time the pillar of fire/cloud
would stir, it was time for them to pack up, move and follow God to a new
location.
This is not
unlike our vocation and experience as Salvation Army Officers. Every time God
stirs headquarters hearts like He did the pillar of fire/cloud, it is time for
us Officers to move. At some locations we stay for a long time; others we stay
for a short time and there are others, of course, that Susan and I have missed
altogether as God has been leading our family eastward. Susan, the two older
girls and I followed God from Victoria to Vancouver’s DTES where we stayed for
a couple of years. We then followed His leading to Winnipeg where we stayed
another couple of years and then Nipawin and Tisdale in Saskatchewan before he
led us to Swift Current where God has allowed us to serve Him hand-in-hand with
each of you, our dear friends for these past six years – and He has even
blessed us with another member of the Ramsay clan while we were here.
We have
certainly been blessed here but now the pillar of fiery cloud is stirring
again. It is time to have packed up our belongings and follow God to His next
place for us. We have no idea how long we will be there or even really what we
will be doing there; we just know that like the Hebrews whom God called out of
Egypt, the Ramsays as we were called out of Victoria, will need to keep
following the Lord and -unlike the Israelites- we need to do it without
grumbling so that we may experience the joy that can only be found in obedience
to the Lord.
And so
today we are on the move again. This is our last Sunday. Our car is packed and
we are ready to go and though we do not know our penultimate temporal
destination, we do know our next stop on the road and we do know that as we are
faithful then our ultimate destination of our lifelong journey will be in the
Eternal Kingdom, the Age to Come, Everlasting Life.
So as we go
from you after the service today, following God in a manner akin to the fiery
pillar of cloud, know that you are in our hearts and in our minds and that we
will always cherish your friendship and all that the Lord has taught us through
each and everyone of you on our stop here in Swift Current. May God continue to
bless you as greatly as He has blessed us through you, for now and forever
more.
In Jesus
Name, amen.
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