Potholes

 Back in January Sam was driving home from a party in the middle of the night on an unlit road when he hit a pothole.  It shredded his tyre and dented the rim and left him having to change a tyre in the pitch black on a country road in the rain.  He was not a happy camper.  ( We discovered that its possible to claim the associated expenses back from the roads department so we have filed the paperwork and are waiting to see what happens)  

Ever since then Ive been super aware of all the holes in the roads.  And there are loads of them.  They are bad enough if you are in a car but if you're on a motorbike or you are a cyclist then it must be even worse.

A pothole starts with a crack.  Barely noticeable. But the water gets into it, then it freezes and expands and disrupts the layer underneath the tarmac. Before long the traffic going over the weakened spot causes the surface to sink - and lo and behold a crater appears.  And what was once a safe place to put your feet (or your tyres) is now pretty dangerous.  Especially in the dark

Noticing potholes has made me think about roads.  In the Bible roads are often places of danger.  The parable of the good Samaritan shows us that the highways of Jesus time were the hangouts of robbers and thieves.  In another parable people are sent out into the streets to invite the poor and the needy into a wedding feast.  The streets were where the poor lived - and died.  All the beggars and lepers Jesus encountered were in the streets.   They were the shunned outcasts and people would avoid being where they were as much as possible.   And then of course there were wild animals roaming about.  Mountain lions and snakes and goodness knows what else.  I think in our days of tarmac and motorways and transport systems we find it hard to understand that in Bible times travel was risky - even going from one village to another.  There was no AA or RAC to rescue you if your cart lost a wheel or your donkey got sick.  There were no street lights at all.  There were bandits all over the place so people going any distance tended to travel in groups to try to protect themselves.   When the Romans arrived at least the road surfaces started to get better.  But basically people didnt go too far from home and they certainly didnt travel alone or at night if they could help it.  People who could afford it probably armed themselves in some way before setting out on a long journey.   

   It is into this scenario that Isaiah says that God is going to '' clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.''  Is 40;3

And a highway will be there;
    it will be called the Way of Holiness;
    it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
    wicked fools will not go about on it.
 No lion will be there,
    nor any ravenous beast;
    they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there

Can you imagine what a fantastic promise this would seem to be to people who found roads a real  problem?  Imagine being able to travel on a road where there would be no beggars or lepers harassing you for money, no robbers and ambushers waiting for you, no wild animals prowling.  No potholes.  Just a safe, peaceful, calm roadway on which to walk.  The people must have been longing for the day when they could travel safely.  

And then in comes Jesus.

Not quite how people were expecting God to fulfil that promise in Isaiah.    Im sure they were waiting for an engineering project not a carpenter.   But as we know, there is only one way to travel safely through this life and it is with Jesus.  Or more accurately it is IN Jesus.  When we are hidden in Him and He takes us where He is going then we can be assured that whatever happens and wherever we end up we will know peace.  He might take us into physically dangerous or uncomfortable places but in Him we will be eternally, spiritually safe.   And eventually we will come to the end of the road and find ourselves home.