Exhortation

“There’s a sea in front and an army behind,” Israel cries out at the Red Sea. The Lord tells them to go straight ahead, as He cuts a road through the sea. “There are giants in the land,” Israel says. The Lord leads and tells them to watch the fortresses fall. “I can see a cross up ahead,” Jesus says. But Jesus is the Straight One who advances until the cross becomes a bridge to resurrection.

The Lord is the Upright One; His ways are straight. He doesn’t twist and turn. He doesn’t deviate. He takes the shortest route between two points. No obstacle can force Him to change course. And, Isaiah says, the Straight One makes the path of the righteous straight and smooth.

Our way may not look straight. Sometimes we can do no more than murmur a prayer and plunge into the darkness. When we do, we find that the Lord who leads us has already cleared the path ahead.

“That’s not my experience,” you say. “All my obstacles stay right where they are. They hem me in everywhere I turn. I can’t find a passage through; I can’t find a way around; there’s no way over. And the Lord doesn’t strike me as a straight-shooter. He’s tricky; He’s elusive; He leads me into blind alleys and labyrinths.”

If you find yourself groping in the gloom, consider whether the problem is in you rather than God. “To the kind He shows Himself kind; to the straight He shows Himself straight; but to the crooked He shows Himself twisted.” If God makes you wander in a maze, is it because you’ve not dealt straight with Him?

Do you keep your sins hidden? Do you follow where He leads? Do you go straight ahead in the way of obedience not matter what, depending on the Upright One to determine the outcome? Do you trust Him?