God's people lived in captivity and bondage in Egypt for 430 years. One day God heard the cry of the people due to the torment and abuse that they were suffering, and he sent his servant Moses to deliver his people so they could worship Him in the wilderness.

God had remembered the promise he made to Abraham to make him a great nation and to lead him to a land that was full of blessing and provision. Between Egypt and Canaan stood the desert, a place that would reveal and manifest all that was in their hearts.

From Egypt to Mount Horeb, by day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

But something happened at mount Horeb. While Moses was on the mountain receiving the word of the Lord, the people got restless because God was taking too long. They got desperate and demanded that Aaron make them another god, an idol, something to take the place of God because they were tired of waiting. Something that would satisfy their desires, something that they could control.

Exodus 33:1-2
33 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, I will give it to your descendants. 2 I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way. 

Moses pleaded with God to not abandon them. He realized that God's presence was more important than God's blessings. He would rather be in the desert with God, than in the promise land without Him. Let me put it this way, He would rather have the blessor than the blessing. Too many of us want God for what He can give us, not because we love Him and want to spend time with Him. Spending time in God's presence is what transformed Moses. The Bible says that his face was so radiant after spending time with God, that he had to put a veil over his face.

7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the tent of meeting. Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 

14 The Lord replied, My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. 
15 Then Moses said to him, If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth? 

Whether you are still in bondage, or struggling in the wilderness, God will lead you to the promise land if only you become willing to step into the tent of meeting where He is, waiting to reveal Himself to you and guide you, so you too can receive what He has promised. I encourage you pitch your tent like Moses, a place where you can go in and inquire of the Lord. He will lead you if you ask Him.

Jeremiah 29:11-13
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 

Isaiah 55:8-9
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,
    declares the Lord.
9 As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.