“A voice of one who cries: Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord [clear away the obstacles]; make straight and smooth in the desert a highway for our God! Every valley shall be lifted and filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked and uneven shall be made straight and level, and the rough places plain. And the glory (majesty and splendour) of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.” Isa 40:3-5 (Amp)
The French TGV and Japanese bullet train are reputed to be the fastest trains on earth for a reason. They have the power as well as the tracks which enable them to routinely attain and maintain high speed, thus significantly cutting down on travel time. The key to this high speed is in the straightness of the rail tracks on which the trains travel. The engineers who built the tracks ensured that they removed every possible obstacle to achieving the high speed that these trains were designed for. They filled ditches or valleys, levelled hills, tunnelled through mountains, cleared towns, built bridges and in so doing succeeded in achieving their main goal – phenomenally high speed.
You can then imagine what would happen if you were to put these high performance trains on steroids on one of the normal tracks you see about you. You will realise that irrespective of their potential, these advanced trains will perform on the same level as your every stop train or intercity and no more. They can never perform to their potential until given the appropriate track on which to strut their stuff. Therefore, the potential will only match the reality when the right means is already in place to help make it happen. However powerful the engine, the train can never reach its potential on the wrong track. Period!
The same is also true of God’s ability to impact the world through His Church. For as long as we refuse to clear away the obstacles that are standing in the way of the move of God’s Spirit, we frustrate God’s plan and make His power ineffectual in our lives. Consequently, God’s glory will only be seen in and His power expressed through us to the extent that we are willing to prepare ourselves as the means to His declared end of filling the earth with His glory. Nevertheless, the impact of our preparedness is not limited to the scope, but also affects the speed at which God is able to fulfil His plan through us. Just as the journey between two points could take a few hours or forever depending on the state of the road, so also can God’s move in our time be quickly facilitated or tortuously hindered by His people’s disposition and their willingness to clear away spiritual obstacles to His move in their lives, as only this can predispose us to receive all that He has for us. This was what John the Baptist accomplished on behalf of Jesus Christ in that he prepared the hearts of the people to receive the latter’s message of salvation. One fact is clear – God is determined to move by His Spirit in our world and He shall. Whether He does so pleasurably, because the way has been cleared of obstacles and the crooked path straightened or tortuously, because we have neglected to do what is required of us, is down to each of us. How will He find you?
Prayer:
Lord, your word commands me to neither quench nor grieve the Holy Spirit. Today, I repent of my sins of omission and commission that are doing just that and ask that you help me identify those areas of my life that particularly displease you. Make my life into a highway for your Spirit to move in and through in comfort so that your glory might be seen in me in Jesus name. Amen