Leveling and Straightening Paths

Make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. (Hebrews 12:13)

A voice is calling, "Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. "Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." (Isaiah 40:3-5)

I visited this verse back on February 12^th but as is often the case I keep listening and hearing more that I want to absorb. Just what does this leveling and straightening of the path mean in actual life? What is it in my life or thinking that must happen to level the path? What is a cause for stumbling for both me and others that needs to be leveled or straightened?

Maybe it is the discipline process discussed previously in this chapter that constitutes the leveling process that we naturally tend to resent and resist. If I am instructed to pursue peace with all men and I have obstacles to that peace, then those are high spots or mountains that need to be lowered, excavated, even blown apart if necessary. If I am to pursue sanctification without which I cannot see God then there are ruts and valleys that terrify me that need to be filled in to bring them up into the light and out of fear. The ruts of old habits, ways of thinking and relating, assumptions and paradigms that need to be released and exchanged with God's perspective, these all hold me locked in their control over my life.

Grace (v. 15) is the extravagant supplies for my complete success that have been provided for me by Jesus. But if I fail to receive this grace to empower me to endure the discipline needed to level and straighten the paths in my mind and heart and relationships, then I fall short of that grace and will not be able to cooperate with God's work in my life. When that is the case I will have seeds that produce roots of weeds that will quickly spring up crowding out the slower growing plants of real goodness in my life planted by the Holy Spirit. Weeds typically grow faster and crowd out the good plants robbing them of needed nutrition, water and sunlight.

Trying to walk on a path full of weeds, briars and/or covered with tree roots is a very difficult task at best. It tends toward heightening the danger of putting weak knees and ankles out of joint or causing a sprain. That is quite clear in the analogy, but I still want to know how it applies to my own emotions and heart condition? I need to explore much more clearly what this all means in real life for me.

One thing that comes to mind is the pride scale. The pride scale creates unevenness that must be dealt with. This whole scale is the flesh's attempt to create value and identity apart from God. Anything I imagine beyond reality (reality is God's definition of my identity) that I believe about myself must be removed and anything below that reality must be filled in. Twisted ideas about myself, about God, about others are crooked ways that need to be straightened. Perversions of truth, either factual or emotional make up the crookedness and unevenness that needs to be corrected to make it easier to move forward.

The whole object of a path is to provide access and direction for movement from one place to another. Those who insist on “standing firm” and refusing to move beyond their present concept of truth are often refusing to lift up their hands toward God and their knees to move forward. Discipline sometimes involves the work required to hack a path through the woods and underbrush and weeds so that it becomes more clear to others who are following us.

"I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, In paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them And rugged places into plains. These are the things I will do, And I will not leave them undone." (Isaiah 42:16)

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. (Isaiah 61:1-3)

Put out of joint... Other translations have a completely different interpretation of this Greek word. I believe there is a lot to be learned from both of the possible meanings. This is the other way that translators render this phrase. And make straight paths for your feet, that that which is lame be not turned out of the way, but rather be healed. (Hebrews 12:13 ASV)

What struck me when I looked up this word was the similarity between the meaning of this word and the meaning of repentance. It almost appears to me that this may be the opposite of repentance in some way. Both terms mean to turn around, to change direction. In the case of repentance it means to have a change of mind, of thinking, of perception. Repentance is a gift from God that we receive and exercise by our will. In this verse the turning seems to be almost a re-turning back to the direction which repentance had turned us away from.

The cause for the turning brought about in repentance is the heart's response to the attraction of God toward Himself and His heart. Seeing something of the beauty of God, the loveliness of His character, His faithfulness and trustworthiness causes us to want to quit running away from Him and turn toward Him by accepting His invitation into a life-giving relationship with Him.

What I see in the Word here in Hebrews is almost the opposite in some respects. It seems to describe some who are trying to move toward God but become discouraged because of the roughness or twistedness of the apparent path leading toward heaven and God. It describes the lack of needed healing apparently because of continuing damage from paths that are very difficult to travel – too difficult as far as God is concerned because He is asking us to do something about it.

In this passage we are asked to make corrections to the path so that the lame, whether others or even ourselves, are not induced to give up moving in the right direction and turn back toward where we have come from. What is also implied here is that healing is found in moving forward on this path and conversely healing will not be experienced if the lame turns back in discouragement. It also implies that there is a certain amount of responsibility on our part for the condition of the path.

This highlights the need to address the many unnecessary obstacles that we have placed in the way toward God in many respects. Our traditions have created a great deal of distortions that prevent or discourage people from moving toward God. The proliferation of lie-based beliefs about God so popular in all religions are a major cause for the twisted and contorted paths that we try to follow to heaven. Even the condition of the spirit and attitudes of those professing to be followers of God are often a source of discouragement for others who are in need of healing. There are many others sources of problems that need to be addressed in order to smooth and straighten the path to heaven for ourselves and others.

I am now starting to see, given this context, the reason for the next verse. It is the imperative, the focus needed by a person who accepts this job of trailblazing for God. It addresses the issues both in our relationship with others and our relationship with God.

Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

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