And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. (Exodus 13:21-22, KJV)

The LORD  thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee… (Deuteronomy 31:3, KJV)

So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. (Deuteronomy 31:6, NLT)

These passages of scripture speak of the time when God’s people, Israel, were led through the wilderness and ultimately into their promised land. They speak of very important events in history. Today, I ask you to permit me to speak of things that may seem trivial in light of these events, but that demonstrate another facet of our God.

Just yesterday I met with someone to exchange a damaged part on a product I had purchased. The person who sold me the product discussed it with the company and they were very willing to make things right, but instead of wanting to deal with it in the easiest way possible, they were asking me to do things in a much more difficult way to receive my exchange. The person that had sold me the product (a Christian) suggested I pray that the company would agree to do things the easiest way possible for me (the customer).

I calmly thanked the LORD that because of Him, I had favor.

The company said that if they did things my way, they couldn’t guarantee the new part would fit and work properly with the rest of the item. Actually, they seemed very sure it wouldn’t.  Once again, I thanked the LORD that this was no surprise to Him and that His blessing had already gone before me to bring me favor and to pick out just the right replacement part that would fit and work properly.

He knew what was coming and I trusted that He had already worked it out for me.

Sure enough, the company agreed to give me a replacement part. And sure enough it fit just right and worked perfectly.

We see in scriptures the Lord going before His people and leading them in the way they should go. I rely heavily on Him for His leading. But we must not stop short of seeing all that He is doing on our behalf when we trust Him.

He not only went before Israel, to lead them. He went before them and was taking care of things even before they got there.

I’ve shared this before with at least two people involved in difficult court cases. In both cases after prayer they found that they had favor with the court and things ended up working out to their benefit in the case.

So whether the situations you face are trivial or major, know this. The LORD your God is going before you to lead you and to work things out on your behalf. Simply follow Him and trust Him.