Scripture
And the angel replied, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering! Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. He is staying with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.” Acts 10:4-6

Observation
Why did Peter need a squad car to persuade him to preach at Cornelius’ house? The men that the commander sent that day to fetch Peter were very likely military and Roman. Their shadow in the doorway would have been foreboding. Peter would have felt the pressure.

Why did it take that much persuasion? Why did God use an angel to get Peter out of bed? It had worked for him when Peter was snoring in prison. Why didn’t God add a little more to the vision? A dream worked for Paul to go to Macedonia why not to get Peter to walk down the road to Caeserea?

Peter needed persuasion because God was about to do something that was out of his field of vision. Peter was a Jew pickled in the brine of pharisaism. He had never walked into the home of a non-Jew before. He had never touched bacon. He did everything his mother told him since he was a boy. God, however, was about to move the boundary markers of his life. What had been off limits was now going to become commonplace in his ministry. He would need persuasion to do something he had not done before.

Application
When God intends to do something new in our lives we should not be surprised when he does something to shake up our world view. If something comes to pass that is out of the ordinary that shakes up our perspective we should not be in a rush to return to normalcy. Surprising events could very well be an indication of fresh footsteps of the Lord.

Prayer
Father, when the unexpected comes knocking at my door, let me be discerning but not suspicious. Help me to follow without reluctance. Amen.

Scripture
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. Exodus 13:17-18

Observation
In life we like best a straight road or better yet a shortcut to where we are going. We want a freeway sprint of finding God’s purpose. But the Lord leads by the scenic byways, county roads and side streets. He leads us through spaghetti-ways into his plans for us.

God offers us the gift of interludes. The Psalm writers called them “selah” moments. They were music intermission moments to let the words of the song tumble dry in the mind. Intermission is part of the process though it seems like a great waste of time.

When the road is closed that does not mean God has delayed us just detoured us. There is something he wants us to discover on the service road that is important for us to know. There is so much to take in so the interlude gives time for us to absorb things deeply

Application
What a difference would come in my life if I considered all of the delays of God as interludes. It would free me to reflect on the goodness of God, the intricacies of his ways and to explore the mystery of his purpose. Interludes keep my journey from becoming a blur at highway speed. At 70 mph I can miss the mana in the desert and water from the rock. I have to slow down to see those miracles. Today I chose to embrace the selah moments of life. I want the show to resume, but the Lord wants me to enjoy the intermission. I chose to stop and think about all he has done.

Prayer
Father, thank you for the intermission moments. I set aside my frustrations with them. I instead thank you for them. Change my prayers at times from “hurry up Lord” to “take your time”. And when I cannot pray those words help me to at least make the most of the wait. Amen.

Scripture

The word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. Luke 3:2-5

Observation It is easy to gloss over this rough grain story of John the Baptist and miss the courage of the man.In a society saturated in legalism John broke every social rule to follow God. It was a time for conformity to at least one of the three major religious groups. Take your pick: Pharisee, Saducee or Essene. But there was no room for start ups. John joined none of them and launched out living far from the establishment in the desert.

John didn’t go to the world; John went after God and the world came to him. Hidden in the wilderness people found John the Baptist best.

This lifestyle had its advantages, for John could speak his message without dilution. His word was as uncompromising as a laser beam level. Valleys must be filled, crooked must be straight, and pot holes must be filled in. Notes on John’s sermons could be taken in phrases not paragraphs. He was simple and to the point: God is coming so get ready. The only way to build a road through a rugged place is to have a simple message that creates one straight pathway. Let others follow and add side streets. Let the pioneer build simply the main road. John did not have tangents just a target and with that he built one road that today we call the Christian faith.

There are times to launch out on nothing more than a personally perceived word from God. There is the danger of misinterpretation. There is certainly the misunderstanding of others. But the world needs more like John the Baptist to be like Daniel Boones for others to follow their trail. The “word of God came to John in the desert” and there he followed God. We would do well to do the same. There will be times that God will call us to follow him before the road exists. We must alert others to a road that must be built and by example inspire others to join the highway crew in construction. If God has spoken yet there is no road then the only option is to make one.

Prayer Father, today I want to be more than a road builder; I want to inspire others to build the road for themselves. There is a desert around me where there is no way; yet one is needed for other leaders to follow. Help me to become the road builder that you need me to be. Amen.

Scripture
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:4-5

Observation
We live with a wallet-sized view of our days. Sure we see life, but only just a snapshot. We make so many decisions with a page-to-a-day calendar kind of outlook.

God, however, sees life on the big screen. He sees the end from the beginning in wide-screen panorama. It is breathtaking his vision not from from our birth to our death, but from before time to the end of time. He can see the life map of every human being and how they interact in the symphony of life. At once he can see the grand scheme as well as the detail of it all. It is simply breathtaking.

When my twentysomething daughter was still in a stroller we visited the Wold’s Fair. In the China Pavilion we were bundled into a large round room. There were no seats. We were told simply to stand. The walls were colorless and when the doors shut we were surrounded with an endless circle of white. The lights were dimmed and the projector flipped on. Suddenly we were not watching a movie, we were in the movie as a 360 degree image whirled around it. It was as if I was not looking at China; I was actually there.

Application
I want God to open my eyes like that. I don’t want a portable-TV-sized view of life. I want to see something of what God sees. It has started with his choice to love me before I was even made. It continues today as he envisions the future of my life. God has decided my life in advance. Today is not a meaningless fragment but a significant part of the puzzle.

Prayer
Father, I pray with Paul today please open the eyes of my heart that I may see life with the head spinning view that you have. I don’t want to make far reaching decisions based on my rear vision mirror. I want a windshield view so I can make the right turns. Amen.