Road Construction

"The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together..."(Isa 40:4-5 NKJV).

I don't know about you, but I hate road construction. I live in a growing city and it seems like there has been ongoing road construction for years. Everything is a mess, you can never plan your trips because of delays, and sometimes you get caught off guard when traffic signs are placed in unusual places and the natural flow of traffic takes you off the main road onto bumpy surfaces.

Recently one of our main local roads discovered a sink hole in the middle of the road. The road was closed for more than a year. We had to take alternative routes that were inconvenient and it took longer to get places.

Sometimes God takes us through our own life re-construction project. Our lives get disrupted, we can no longer depend on the things we did before, and we don't have control over our circumstances or timetable. God is doing major construction.

However, even in the midst of the re-construction the glory of the Lord is revealed in that place. For some, it is the first time they've ever seen the hand of the Lord in their life to the degree that this process allows them to experience Him. It is a process they would never choose to go through voluntarily, but it is an experience they value for the rest of their lives because the glory of the Lord was revealed in the process.

Once the process is complete, things begin to flow better. Just as the new roads allow you to drive on a smooth, more spacious area, so too God paves a way for you to move into an expanded place with Him. Isaiah tells us: "He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows" (Isa 30:23-24).

Be patient with God's re-construction project. You will like the finished project.

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High Positions

"The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position"(James 1:9).

Whenever God takes a saint to a very lowly state it is designed to accomplish something only that process can do. Job learned that "He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light" (Job 12:22). Job's trials allowed him to learn things about God, himself and his friends that we all needed to know as well. He assumed things about God that he had to recant: "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know" (Job 42:3).

God reveals things in the dark places of circumstances that will be used to reveal something He wants you and others to know. He has sent you ahead to learn these things so that you and others will benefit from your unique experience. God views this place where you receive these truths as a high position. The world views it as a place to be despised.

"He called down a famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food; and he sent a man before them - Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true" (Psalms 105:16-19). Joseph was also led to this high position. It was here he was prepared to be the most powerful man in the world as a thirty-year old. He learned many things about God during his captivity that was used later as a ruler over a nation.

So, if you find yourself in a lowly state, realize your lowly state is considered a high position by God that is preparation soil for revealing deep things from the dark places that God desires you to learn.

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Seeing the Ordinary as Extraordinary

"Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Our Lord never saw the mundane activities as ordinary. Whether He healed the sick or sat around the fire with the disciples, He did not see one activity as spiritual and the other non-spiritual. Life was lived as a holy service to His Heavenly Father.

Many times we fall prey to a spiritual hierarchy mentality. We believe certain activity is more blessed by God because it is done under a spiritual guise. We conduct our Christian meetings and conclude one is blessed by God based on attendance. We work to give money to ministry when we fail to recognize the very work we do is ministry.

God's glory can be expressed in the most common task. Whether washing the dishes or changing diapers or driving to the grocery store. When we begin to assign spiritual value to activities we begin to give greater importance to those activities we deem spiritually higher in the hierarchy.

Philip was in the midst of a major crusade when the Holy Spirit abruptly instructed him to stop and go to a desert road.

"Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said."

"Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, 'Go south to the road-the desert road-that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.' So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, 'Go to that chariot and stay near it'" (Acts 8:26-29). We see in this story that neither activity was more important than the other. Philip's job was to live in communion with the Holy Spirit and be obedient to His promptings.

Today, view every activity you do with an attitude of worship and communion with Jesus

*Primtime With God, Online Publication*