Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

On the road

Sunday, December 8, 2002

Isaiah 40:1-5
1) "Comfort, yes, comfort my people!" says your God.
2) "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned;
for she has received from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins."
3) The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
"Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4) Every valley shall be exalted and
every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
5) The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." ...

Several times in the early 1970's, I hitchhiked across the country. The highways of America can be very lonely for a hitchhiker. But when someone stopped to pick me up, always I felt such a rush of gratitude, and excitement, and connection. I was no longer alone.

Often the driver was just as lonely as I was. The welcome I felt made that strange car a very comfortable place. Warm in the winter, cool in the summer, just sitting, stretching out, getting off my feet ... and watching mile after mile disappear behind me.

I try to imagine a "highway for our God," with John the Baptist running the road grader, putting down a smooth surface, straightening the path for Jesus. And of course, I can follow him on the highway; I can walk in his wake. The highway is no longer lonely. And it slips easily through terrible wilderness, smooth and straight.

As the sun sets on the second Sunday of Advent, preparation fills me up. We put up our Christmas tree today with the help of several friends. We lit candles, we grew quiet in the dark as the music played, and we continue to wait. Jesus is about to begin his journey, and so, therefore, are we.

All of this traveling we do, Lord, too often in circles. Lead us in the way, the high way, everlasting.

Devotions Archive

On the road

Sunday, December 8, 2002