VALLEYS AND MOUNTAINS

"Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain." (Isaiah 40:4).

The entrance of sin into the world brought great inconsistencies. It introduced unfathomable depths in human experience, and insurmountable hills and mountains of difficulty. The path of life was made rough and crooked, and the way of the transgressor became "hard" (Prov 13:15). Men and woman of faith discerned this was the case, and often confessed to its reality. Job acknowledged, "Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward," and "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble" (Job 5:7; 14:1).
Jacob said to Pharaoh, "Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been" (Gen 47:9). David confessed, "Behold, Thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before Thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity" (Psa 39:5). Solomon said, "All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness" (Eccl 5:17).

Indeed, sin introduced a certain futility of life, in which living often became a burden. Sorrow, grief, and discouragement spread through life like deep valleys. Hardship and discouraging challenges rose like mighty mountains in the pathway of life. It was a dreadful day when "by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin" (Rom 5:12).

But this is not the end of the story, and certainly does not present the consummate human experience! The sun of promise rose on the horizon of time, sending a beam of bright hope into the world. God was going to send One into the earth who would change the entire terrain of life. Everything would become new, and hope would leap in the stall of life, like a young and vigorous calf.

Isaiah the Prophet spoke of this time in our text. With a shout of glory the Lord said to him, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people . . . Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned" (40:1-2). This word was for Israel, but it was not limited to Israel. We know this is the case, because of Isaiah's reference to John the Baptist. "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God" (verse 3). John the Baptist confessed he was that "voice" (John 1:23). The Holy Spirit also declared this to be the case (Matt 3:1-3; Mk 1:1-3). The role of John the Baptist was to prepare the people to receive Christ – to ready them for the Savior: "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:17). Our text, then, refers to the glorious ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Savior would bring a refreshing consistency to life. The burden of life itself would be lifted, and people would come to the Lord with "everlasting joy upon their heads" (Isa 35:10). Life's valleys would be elevated, so that difficulties would not be so low, and sorrows would not be as deep. Life would not be so erratic, swinging from one extreme to the other. Men would be able to "glory" in their "infirmities" (2 Cor 12:9) rather than despairing because of them. Every valley would be exalted, and a walk in the light would become possible (1 John 1:7)!

Hindering mountains would be brought down, making the path "plain" and clear (Psa 27:11). No longer would towering imaginations obscure the land of promise, and the cold and bleak mountains of discouragement block the exceeding great and precious promises of God. Men would be able to live with their hope cast into heaven itself, fully persuaded of the inheritance that belonged to them. They would know the One they believed, and be persuaded He was able to keep what they committed to Him until the great and notable day of the Lord (2 Tim 1:12). No longer would the people of God be surrounded by mountains in which enemies like "the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites" dwelt (Num 13:29). Instead, they would be surrounded by mountains of protection – angelic hosts that would camp round about them to deliver them from the fear of evil (Psa 34:7).

These are some of the involvements of that wonderful description of life in Christ Jesus. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor 5:17). Old valleys pass away. Old mountains are no longer before us. The path is clearer, and we can see farther. Our experience no longer swings erratically from one extremity of life to another. Rather, spiritual stability is experienced – a stability that comes from walking on the highway to glory. It is a way where saints "obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (Isa 35:8).

PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus I thank You for preparing the way to Yourself. Grant me grace and strength to stay on this way, and never to depart from it.

-- Monday: CIRCUMSTANCES TO BE KNOWN --