2 ‘I will go before you And make the crooked places a straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron. -Isaiah 45 Verse 2 (NKJV)
In the NIV from which the Lord spoke to me, the verse begins I will go before you and I will level the mountains. Nevertheless, the essence of a crooked place and a mountain is the same. It is place along a road or a path where one cannot run straight; a stumbling place where there is less progress in that which you set out to do. Crooked is more than just bends and curves, it is twisted turns where top speed is unimaginable-and this year, what the Lord has spoken is no more of that.
With mountains, the only way over it is by climbing over it, with the slips, the falls, the weariness that leadens your legs as maybe self-doubt creeps in and you wonder whether or not you can do it. And this year, whatever mountains have stood in your way-stopping your happy marriage from happening, keeping you in debt and financial bondage, that addiction or tendency you have tried so hard to break but have failed-God is flattening and doing away with. No more shall it stand before your way and my friend you shall freely be able to run your race that is set before you.
God has said he will break through the gates of bronze. As I write right now, i have a deep impression on my spirit that here, the bronze refers to man. Where people have stood in the way of your dreams, in the way of your breakthrough; maybe its just a signature you need to continue, maybe just a yes you must hear but it has not come-this year its coming. God is doing it for you, only believe. (I feel a need to put a disclaimer here-this does not mean God wants to kill anyone -He desires to see all men saved)
God says it is His intent to cut through bars of iron. And I will simply be honest that at this point, what was deeply impressed on me was the personal nature of this Word to me. Maybe you can relate to it, maybe not but I will share it anyway. I am a man who oftentimes retreats into a shell of silence, and not giving my opinion. I retreat into a shell of busyness to sometimes avoid what I would normally deem a difficult interaction or where there is an answer that must be given that I do not want to be the one to give. I have even done it to avoid simple intimate connection with friends but the Lord has made it clear to me that this is not his will for me. He has promised me that the iron bars that are my personality that is holding me back from becoming the man He wants me to be, He will cut through to leave only that which He wills.
Now I invite you to just digest this, and believe for surely the Lord has spoken and His Word is like the rain, it feeds the earth to make it bring forth and bud and it will fruitfully accomplish that which He intends.
Stay blessed; i hope to share the last instalment to this 3 part topic soon.