“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.” —Isaiah 40:3
I sit in wilderness. Familirarity with the landscape grows. I guess with near perfect certainty as to the behavior of my co-inhabitants. As a friend often says: “people will act according to their character.” She is so right.
Some lash out, dumping wave upon wave of vitriolic bitterness and anger upon anyone who differs in opinion, approach, or belief.
Others buckle down, enduring the onslaught, hoping it passes sooner rather than later.
Some reign in their power and purposefully battle against the attacks, seeking to bring peace to an uproarious situation.
It remains a wilderness of backstabbing, immoral and unethical politics, lacking even the simplest of civilities. There remain a few bright spots along the way, but we bright spots feel each hit and wonder when it will end.
What does clearing the way for the Lord mean in this situation? Just this morning, while listening to a radio broadcast of a James McDonald message, I was struck. He said: “get out of the way—God’s got work to do.” I get the feeling clearing the way and getting out of the way go hand-in-hand.
We often talk of “clearing the way for the Lord” as making headway for transformative gospel revelation which leads to conversion. What if our definition is too small? What if clearing the way also means doing the right thing, setting boundaries, and appropriately requesting protection from attacks? What if clearing the way includes behaving in God-honoring ways along a path to change? What if clearing the way includes allowing Him to bring accountability to the attackers?
“Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” —Isaiah 40:5
What if what God really wants to bring down some conviction, but we are getting in His way? We beg for deliverance, yet we shudder at the prospect of confronting situations. We paint a picture of not rocking the boat, becoming the crowd of which Jeremiah proclaims: “they have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying ‘peace, peace’ but there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 6:14) We settle for the superficiality and say it will be okay, yet we know there will be no peace.
When you beg God for deliverance, what is His response? Do you listen for it? When it comes, do you tell Him “thanks, but no thanks”? My experiences sicken me. I prayed for deliverance from this back-stabbing wilderness and on more than one occasion God said, “confront.” I responded in a variety of ways. Sometimes with an “I know I need more patience, I’ll stick it out” when He said nothing of being patient. Other times I would falsely comfort myself with “it won’t be long until I am outta here; it will all be okay” when He said nothing of me leaving.
But finally, broken hearted, broken confidence, and pure, complete exhaustion finally grabbed my attention. I finally confronted.
I expected all-out war. I got three apologies and promises of change. The reality remains that the attackers have not changed their character, so I expect more attacks to come. But for this moment, they know their scheming will be exposed. Clearing the way for the Lord meant confronting so that He could convict. Could He have convicted them without me? Absolutely. But I would not have witnessed His miraculous intervention. I would not have felt His love and protection. And my faith would have been the same as before. My God won’t settle for that kind of mediocrity in my fiath. He wanted more for me. He wanted my faith to grow.
“Behold, the Lord God will come with might,
With His arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His reward is with Him
and His recompense before Him.
Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs
and carry them in His bosom;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.”
—Isaiah 40:10-11
Clear the way for the Lord in whatever way He is asking you. He longs to show you the mighty, powerful, faithful, loving work of His hand.
—January 19, 2009
