When knowing the next step isn't what's most important

     I've been mulling over a verse lately that God graciously pointed out to me about 10 years ago during my devotions one day.  I'm working out the ramifications of it again just now, so I thought I'd share a little bit of that with you.
     At the time God brought this verse to my attention I was searching for his direction for me and my family.  We had sought to go to Australia as church-planters and that door had closed...slammed in our faces.  We spent months searching for the direction God would have us take.  I came to the conclusion that I might not ever be in ministry again on a full time basis.  There seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel. 
     One day during that time I was reading toward the end of Exodus.  Specifically, I was reading God's command to Moses to lead the children of Israel away from Mount Sinai.  After the disaster of the golden calf incident (read chapter 32 if you want a refresher), it was time to move on.  The people were fearful about that idea and Moses himself was concerned.  God had told Moses that he had found favor in God's eyes.  Moses latches on to that statement and says the following:
     "You say to me, 'bring up this people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.  Yet you have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.'  Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways..." (Exodus 33:12-13, ESV).
     As I read the words, something in me said "Yes!  Me too!  Show me your way.  I want to get going...I'm waiting."  Then I read the rest of verse 13; "...that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight." 
     Moses didn't want directions; he wanted to know God and be found favorable to God.  A few verses later, after God promises his presence to go with Moses, Moses says "if your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here."
     If Moses wasn't going to live in the presence of God, then he would just as soon have stayed in the desert.  Boy; did I need that right then and there.  I was in a wilderness of sorts, seeking to know that direction that God had for me.  I wanted to know the next step so I could get going.  It was almost as if God was saying; "you don't need to know the next step until you are ready to stay in the wilderness with me if that is better from my vantage point.  Don't worry; I am with you."
     So; here I am again, in a wilderness of sorts.  I am seeking the next step that God wants for me to take.  I have followed him with all of my heart; making a decision that has put me squarely in the position I am in.  I need to know God's way as he has it planned for me.  But I am reminded that knowing his way has, as its primary purpose, a greater intimacy with God. 
     I'm taking advantage of this time to seek to know him better.  I want to bask in his presence.  I want to be conscious that he is with me.  Of course I want to know what's next and where I'll be planted when this wilderness season is over.  When it's time...when I'm ready (from God's point of view)...when the place I'll end up is ready...God will make it abundantly clear.  But his primary point in doing that won't be for me or for the place I'm going; it will be so that I can know him better and be in a better position to act in a manner that will gain God's favor.
     There you have it; my musings on a remote verse toward the end of Exodus.  I hope they are helpful to you as they are to me.  Let's pursue God for his own sake; not just so we can get moving again.