Smooth paths

https://odb.org/2023/08/30/freedom-on-the-path

The first impression we get when we read Isaiah 26:7 is that if God makes our paths smooth as the righteous, it means that our lives will be trouble-free. It then becomes a sort of contradiction as life itself is never smooth. We know. There are ups and downs, valleys and mountain tops. Exhilarating experiences and disappointing moments. Joy and sadness. As believers, we are not exempt from the exigencies of life.

I think when God says that He will make the paths of the righteous smooth, He meant it more in the spiritual sense. Someone once said that if we determined in our hearts to seek the Lord, He would be found. The Lord will make sure that we will find Him if we seek Him. You can actually read this in Jeremiah 29:13 – you will seek Me and find Me if you search Me with all your heart.

Having persevered through doing these commentaries over the past few years, I have experienced this in my own life. There were times when I struggled, but recently, I found that picking out the message the Lord wishes to convey became easier, and that’s true even when preparing for a sermon. The Lord helped me not only with the Scriptures to preach from but also the flow of the message. I saw that working in a senior pastor’s life 6 years ago, and I’m now experiencing it first hand myself.

I believe if we seek Him with all our hearts, He will make our spiritual paths smooth. It will still be step by step, but the steps will be smooth. We will see breakthroughs in our ministry. Maybe we will find power in our prayers and insights into the spiritual realm. Perhaps we will start moving in word of knowledge and may have a prophesy to encourage someone or provide a direction for someone at crossroads. Or the Lord may give us a vision or a dream and the ability to interpret it accurately like Joseph. Basically, it’s a glimpse into the spiritual realm.

In other words, life will be as challenging as ever with its ups and downs. But our spiritual walk with God will be smooth. That’s really wonderful since our ultimate quest in life is the eternal life to be lived with our Lord in the new heaven and earth, the new Jerusalem!