Prepare the Way

December 9th, 2012 Posted in writing

John the Baptist was the “voice” in the desert calling to people to get the Lord’s way ready, making the crooked ways straight and the rough ways smooth.

I’m glad to think that we can ease the Lord’s path and contribute to smoothing God’s way (always with the help of his grace, of course). But some days I think that we actually make things tougher for God, as we behave like the crew that, a few years ago, tore up everything in front of where I work so that people couldn’t use the street at all, but for weeks had to take a complicated detour.

The bottom line is that we are just helpers on God’s project, not the bosses. Preparing God’s way — a road for us to travel also — is primarily God’s job. We may be of greatest help when we get out of God’s way and let him engineer and fashion the road as he knows best.

Of course, admitting that possibility may bruise our confidence in our own expertise and good intentions. But that’s all right. After all, as we’ve heard plenty of times, a road that’s paved with (only) good intentions can sometimes lead to a very bad place.

Post a Comment