Trust in the LORD forever, for in the LORD GOD you have an everlasting rock. For he has brought low the inhabitants of the height; the lofty city he lays low. He lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.
The way of the righteous is level; O Just One, you make smooth the path of the righteous. In the path of your judgments, O LORD, we wait for you; your name and your renown are the soul’s desire. My soul yearns for you in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. Isaiah 26:4-9
I went to the newspaper this morning and the first article I saw reported on a fiery crash on the major freeway into town. Early this morning a big truck evidently crashed into a pillar and exploded. All the lanes were shut down in both directions while the crash was investigated and road cleaned up. Both people in the truck were taken to the hospital, no reports on their injuries.
Life is so like that.
One moment you are relieved to be driving in the early morning hours through what otherwise would be a highly congested road and the next your world is turning upside down.
Sometimes we know we are clearly at fault. We took a dangerous risk. We missed an obvious turn. We got distracted by something on the side of the road.
Other times we are just going about our business, minding our own affairs, when we are innocently caught up in someone else’s carelessness.
Isaiah says that “you make smooth the path of the righteous” and that has always been more than our hope and our prayer, it has been our expectation. We expect that God will make a smooth path for our lives. We expect that God will make things easier for us, that God will lay low the mountains which challenge us, smooth the rocks which trip us, paint a nice yellow brick road which we can easily follow.
That is and always be our hope but not always our experience. Knowing that, Isaiah encourages us to wait for the Lord, to yearn for guidance in the darkness of the night, to trust what we cannot see.
Let us pray: Gracious Lord, our path through life can take dangerous turns. Accidents happen and lives are disrupted. Come to us in our moments of loss and confusion. And bless those today in positions to be helpful to us when we stumble and fall. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Daily Devotions 
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