Christian reader, let us look well to this. Let us see to it that our eye is fixed upon the living God alone, and not upon man whose breath is in his nostrils. Let us wait on Him—wait patiently—wait constantly. If we are at a loss for any thing, let our direct and simple reference be to Him. Are we at a loss to know our way, to know whither we should turn, what step we should take? let us remember that He has said, “I am the way;” let us follow Him. He will make all clear, bright, and certain. There can be no darkness, no perplexity, no uncertainty, if we are following Him; for He has said, and we are bound to believe, “He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness.” Hence, therefore, if we are in darkness, it is certain that we are not following Him. No darkness can ever settle down upon that blessed path along which God leads those who, with a single eye, seek to follow Jesus. But some one whose eye scans these lines may say, or at least may feel disposed to say, Well, after all, I am in perplexity as to my path. I really do not know which way to turn, or what step to take. If this be the language of the reader, we would simply ask him this one question, Art thou following Jesus? If so, thou canst not be in perplexity. Art thou following the cloud? If so, thy way is as plain as God can make it. Here lies the root of the whole matter. Perplexity and uncertainty is very often the fruit of the working of the _will_. We are bent upon doing something which God does not want us to do at all—upon going somewhere that God does not want us to go. We pray about it, and get no answer; we pray again and again, and get no answer. How is this? Why, the simple fact is that God wants us to be quiet—to stand still—to remain just where we are. Wherefore, instead of racking our brain and harassing our souls about what we ought to do, let us do nothing, but simply wait on God. This is the secret of peace and calm elevation. If an Israelite in the desert had taken it into his head to make some movement independent of Jehovah; if he took it upon him to move when the cloud was at rest, or to halt while the cloud was moving, we can easily see what the result would have been. And so it will ever be with us. If we move when we ought to rest, or rest when we ought to move, we shall not have the divine presence with us. “At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed.” They were kept in constant waiting upon God—the most blessed position that any one can occupy: but it must be occupied ere its blessedness can be tasted. It is a reality to be known, not a mere theory to be talked of. May it be ours to prove it all our journey through. CHAPTER X.