“I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and the riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by name. For the sake of Jacob My servant and Israel My chosen one, I call you by name; I have given you a title of honor, though you have not known Me" (Isaiah 45:2-4 BSB).
God is telling Cyrus, His anointed, and He is telling us, that He will remove all obstacles. He will level the crooked places and smooth the way before us. These solid bronze gates were the gates of Babylon and they were secured with bars of iron, a very strong material. God promised to clear the way and help Cyrus break down these gates. Do you believe God would do the same for you as He did for Cyrus, His anointed?
I received a call from my daughter early in the morning reporting that she was on her way to New York and she would be arriving around noon. She was calling to make sure I was still planning on going to the dentist with her, which she reminded me I had promised to do. She was having two wisdom teeth removed and was not going to be able to drive herself home afterwards. My question to her was, “Are you sure I promised today? I have a live shoot at seven o’clock tonight.” She reminded me that her appointment was at 3:00 p.m. I was not entirely sure I would be back in time for the live shoot which started at 8:00 p.m. and I needed to be at the studio by 7:00 p.m. to set up.
Keeping Promises
My daughter was driving from Maryland to New York. The doctor’s office was in New Jersey, and I live in New York, it was going to be a tight squeeze to fit everything in. But, making a promise to someone is a very serious thing and I do not make a promise and not keep it.
When God promises He will go before you, He means He will go before you, behind, toward and in front you. He means He will be there, you can count on Him being there. He will make your crooked path straight. He will smooth out your path, direct you and lead you, and yes, you will feel His presence there as well. He has already approved it. He said it and He will do it. There is no need to worry.
These promises were brought to mind as I was about to say to my daughter, I don’t think it’s possible to fit all this into this one day. The next thing I remember doing was praying, “God this is my daughter, she needs me. Lord, you would do the same for me. I know Lord that you will find a way to work this out.”
So, I got up, took a shower, and put on the dress I had already selected for that day. It had to be the Holy Spirit who directed me to select that dress. It was a dress that does not wrinkle easily; the Holy Spirit had already been leading.
My daughter arrived at my house in New York at 12:30 p.m. With the three-hour trip, we arrived at the dentist office at 3:45 p.m., 45 minutes late and rush hour was looming. I asked the dentist if he could work extra fast as I was pressed for time to get back for my show. Miraculously, the dentist only needed one hour and we were done at exactly 4:45 p.m., we started our journey back to New York at 5:00 p.m.
As I drove, I thanked God for going before us and for making our crooked path straight, for breaking in pieces the gates of bronze and for cutting the bars of iron on our behalf. As we started our journey, traffic was very heavy. If you live in the New York/New Jersey area, you know what traffic is like in that area at that time of day. But, God continued to clear the way. As I approached each car, they were either going left or right. Every car I approached would change lanes or exit off to the left or to the right. I drove straight on the highway nonstop, except when I stopped for gas, all the way to New York. As we drove, I kept saying to my daughter, “Did you see that? Did you see that?” I was in AWE. God literally cleared the way for me to get where I was going on time. A trip that could have taken four to five hours during rush hour, only took me two hours!
It’s amazing the things God can do for us, if we let Him, if we put our trust in Him.
There was another strange think that happened that day. I decided to call my guest to let her know I was running a little late. As soon as she answered the phone she started to give me excuses as to why she needed to cancel out of the show. Originally, the call was to tell her I was running late but God gave me the right words, because the next thing I found myself saying to her was, “God will work it out for you.” I never acknowledged or entertained what she was saying to me. I felt strongly that she was panicking as it was her first experience on the show. I didn’t ever tell her I was running late, I just told her, “God will work it out. I know He will”.
When I got to the studio, I met her getting off the elevator at 7:00 p.m. We had both arrived on time. We looked at each other and smiled.
My guest wanted to cancel out on her commitment because of fear, she panicked when she realized that she was going to be in front of the camera. Interestingly, our topic that night was on FEAR. She witnessed to the audience on the show that day. After she talked to me, she heard God’s voice asking her if she had her devotions for the day. She hadn’t, but after she did, God came to her rescue and calmed her fear. Her panic went away.
Call to Action
Remember God's promise:
"But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee" (Isaiah 43:1-3).
Unless noted otherwise, scripture taken from the King James Version.
