Dump and Fill

Driving behind oversized dump trucks isn’t the wisest idea. Especially when they’re hauling a big yellow tractor! There was no way around the two large machines on my way to work though, so I kept my distance and passed the time singing.

Popping in a Shelley Moore Band CD one of my sweet roomies gave me, the lyrics rang differently than before:

Hearts are hurting, faith is shifting
But our souls don't rest on sand
Pillars of strength now piles of rubble
In tears we try to make sense of this puzzle
Seasons will change, colors will fade
These notes will be heard no more
One day the pain will cease to remain
But this was never a story about me
For now we cry wiping the tears from our eyes
We wait for You, we wait for You
You are making all things new

You are making all things new and This was never a story about me caught my soul. Spiritually are you waiting for the seasons to change? Is your heart anxious for something to be made new?

Continuing to drive behind the dump-truck and tractor duo I thought about an old-time dirt road I drove down last week. Taking it as a short-cut, I crawled at 10 mph for the sake of my car’s front end suspension. Jostling over the pot holes and bouncing through the frost heaves, clouds of dust engulfed the car. Those riding with me joked it took longer to inch safely down this dirt path than if we’d taken the paved roads.

That road needed the dump-truck and tractor I was currently behind! It sure would take a lot of work to fix the rickety dirt road! In order to build a new road (their goal) they have to destroy many things first. Tear through unplowed fields, lay waste to forests, or dig up the old road. Then they turn the destruction into something new. Pouring dirt to fill gaps, raking the gravel to level it out, and soaking up small streams that could cause sink holes, all for the sake of a new road that can be well-travelled. All the destruction and rebuilding isn't just for the construcion crew's sake. They aren't the only ones who will drive on that road. No, thousands will ride on it for years to come.

Isn’t this often what the Lord does in order to usher in the new? With his mighty arm and awesome ways He digs up the past and takes hurt and sin away; fills the gaps with hope and levels with truth. And soaks up streams we thought were life-giving, but were actually harmful to our support structure. And the new arrives; but not just for our sake.

Isaiah 40:3-5, "In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

The price of attaining the new can be high. Called to give up dreams, lay down relationships, start over, and die to our flesh may be asked. Tearing down and building up can be full of pain and loss. And that's when God reminds me of the lyrics from the song and the words of the verse in Isaiah ... this was never a story about me ... and that the glory of the Lord will be revealed for all to see.

Push on and press into Him dear ones. He will sustain you and promises the new.