Peaceful Highway

I have moved a lot in my life. Highways, freeways, and interstates make up a lot of my childhood memories. Seeing the arch on I70 in St. Louis was exciting because it meant that we were heading west. Seeing the cactus and endless desert from I40 would fill me with wonder. Listening to all the radio stations change to country as we headed south on I95 made us laugh at the lyrics. Seeing 

Bonnie Piovesan

tumbleweeds roll across the endless roads in Kansas, or seeing the mountains of Colorado grow closer with each mile. In a way, I feel at home on a highway.

If you have ever traveled some of our roadways here in America, then you have probably gone through a city. Chicago and Indianapolis are my least favorite cities to drive through, but if you want to get anywhere in the Midwest, then you will probably have to go through one of them. There you are on the highway driving through normal towns or patches of open road, and then you start to see the signs that the city is approaching. Tensions rise as you plan gas stops and bathroom breaks before the city. Traffic increases and so does the construction. People who live in those cities drive like people running from the law, and out-of-towners drive like they are in a horror movie expecting death around every bend. You stay focused and pray that in a few hours you will be on the other side of the city and back on the open road. Sooner or later, you make it out, and the highway is peaceful once again. You breathe deeply as you take in the beauty of the road and enjoy miles of open road with little to no traffic.

In Isaiah 19, the Bible describes a highway between nations. Much of the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament is written in prophetic form. Bible scholars often agree that many of these prophesies were fulfilled with Jesus, while some are waiting to be fulfilled. This chapter describes God and His relationship with Egypt, Assyria, and Israel. To give you some context, Egypt sits just southwest of Israel, and Assyria covers parts or all of modern day Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. Often seen in the news or read in history books are that these nations have been enemies for millennia. People around the world often pray for peace in the Middle East because it is such a hotbed of violence, unrest, and hurt. So when I read Isaiah 19, my jaw drops as I try to imagine what this highway between nations would mean.

The Bible says that in that day, there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria and that people will go back and forth on this highway to each other’s countries and that they will worship together and be a blessing on the earth. God calls these nations by name and blesses them. He calls Egypt His people, Assyria His handiwork, and Israel His inheritance. Can you imagine people in the Middle East all traveling together, and worshiping together, and blessing each other? That is one road trip I do not want to miss. But then I pick my jaw back up off of the floor and start to pray because that day has not yet come.

There are so many wonderful prophesies in the Bible that have been fulfilled so I can have confidence that God will fulfill other prophesies in His timing. I can have the same reaction to these types of prophesies just like I do when I approach a city like Chicago. Tensions rise as I hear about some new unrest in the Middle East, people running in fear, hating one another. Terror increases as the world tries to unravel thousands of years of turmoil in one meeting. It is then that I decide to focus in on prayer knowing that God loves these nations and has a blessing prepared for them. I pray and take a breath, knowing that in that day there will be a peaceful highway connecting these precious people whom God calls by name.

In His Name, Bonnie