The Lord Finds a Way
Instead of doing our own spiritual road construction, we call on the Lord's expertise.
You may not be the greatest salesperson, you may have a few low grades at school, you may not be able to dress in the best clothes, you may not understand computers, you may be getting old or be too young to do anything fun, you may be a recovering alcoholic or struggling to control your sinful desires, you may have disappointed your friend or family again.
Don’t worry. The Lord finds a way to bring his Word of forgiveness through an unattractive desert dweller like John the Baptist (after all, you wouldn’t be caught dead in camel’s hair, would you?). And he finds a way for his Word of forgiveness to comfort and encourage unattractive repenters like you and me. He doesn’t wait for us to become spiritually beautiful first, but comes with his forgiveness to make us holy and then helps us live like it.
I could never have planned, implemented and completed the road resurfacing project on Highway 45 in Milwaukee, but I'm now a better driver because of it. No more tire-tread valleys to suck my steering out of control. No more mountainous mounds of crumbling asphalt for passing semis to spit at my windshield. It no longer takes a skilled motorist to travel safely on that stretch of road. Smooth. Steady. Safe.
It would take a highly skilled individual, more skilled than any human being, to travel safely to God on his or her own spiritual road perforated with potholes where the asphalt of perfect living hasn’t stayed intact, and the ridges of rough dealing with others bounce us into the devil’s lane, and the confusing mess and chaotic stress we’ve created for ourselves misdirects us so that we are constantly lost.
Instead of doing our own spiritual road construction, we call on the Lord’s expertise. We confess to God how our selfish desires have crumbled our path to heaven and how our cloudy judgment has made us unclear where to turn next. It’s called repentance. And the road work begins.
The Lord fills in our potholes with Christ's unbreakable life of perfection on our behalf. He hauls away our piles of pride by humbling us with loving discipline. And he straightens our crooked ways with the direct path to heaven through Christ.
We matter to God.
PRAYER: Thank you, O Christ, for the preaching of John the Baptist still echoing in the wilderness of my spiritual wasteland. His voice cries out as a testimony to your desperate desire to save me. Help me to hear it in your demands. Open me to claim it with faith in your everlasting promises. For you also matter to me. Amen.