“Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.” Isaiah 54:2

Road Construction      

If you have driven south on I-5 from Redding lately, you know the speed limit has been lowered to 55 miles per hour for several miles because the freeway is being widened to accommodate more traffic. Heavy equipment sits ready to do the work. Signs warn drivers of the newly-imposed speed limit. Orange cones and cement barriers mark the driving boundaries of the temporary lanes. CHP officers patrol day and night, keeping drivers mindful.

As I drove into Redding one day, I found myself overly irritated at a solid row of big rigs clogging the slow lane. A few drivers of cars in the fast lane wove in and out of both lanes, aggressively dealing with their aggravation, while trucks often attempted to pass others in the slow lane by driving in the fast lane. Knowing that this road-widening project is going to take a very long time to complete, I sighed one of those deep “what’s the world coming to” sighs that made it sound as if Jesus was still on the cross—all hope lost.

As irritating and inconvenient as the lower speed limit is, I have to admit that it will be nice to have more room for the cars. Widening is a good thing when there is excessive traffic. The mess will all be worth it “down the road”—in other words, some day in the future.

As I prayed for a better attitude, an exceedingly helpful thought came to me (thanks to the hardworking Holy Spirit). Jesus is the Way. We go where He takes us, turning where He turns, staying in the lane that is best for our travel. He has clearly marked the lanes; warning cones and barriers (the Word and other authorities in our life) are meant to keep us headed straight and keep from running over, injuring, or disabling other travelers—and ourselves.

But sometimes our road, our life, needs to be widened. We are at capacity. We need more room in our heart. “…You shall enlarge my heart” (Psalm 119:32b). It is time to expand our borders to encompass more people, more love, more of Him. He begins to open narrow passages and create new lanes. It’s a painful, slow process—there is digging and tearing and reshaping taking place as we cry, and question, and sometimes lose something we’ve perhaps held too tightly. There are times we don’t even recognize our former lives, times we can’t see how it will turn out.

But growth comes. The widening takes place. And we eventually see that a Master Engineer saw it all ahead, drew the plans, found the workers, and kept at it until completion—in spite of our cries of protest, our deep sighs, and our attempts at diverting around the cones and barriers.

“Lord, widen the lanes of our hearts and lives—whatever it takes. Amen.”