Clearing obstacles out of the way - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth.
Isaiah 40:3–4

Clearing obstacles out of the way
God wants to comfort us (Isaiah 40:1). However, our hearts often remain closed to His encouraging words. Why? Because obstacles block the flow of divine comfort.

In today’s verse Isaiah speaks figuratively of valleys, mountains and hills as well as hilly terrain that can get in the way of God’s encouragement.

o Valleys indicate that we think too little of God. Maybe we think, “He doesn’t want to comfort me,” or “He can’t comfort me.” Such thoughts need to be cleared away.

o Mountains and hills arise when we value our own views higher than God’s thoughts. As long as we think we know better what is good for us, we remain unreceptive to the comfort of God.

o The hilly terrain points to our self-will, rising up against God. We are sometimes headstrong and don’t want to be comforted. In doing so, we close ourselves off from our heavenly Father.

Why should we stand in our own way any longer? Let’s remove all obstacles so that there is a smooth path for God’s comfort and encouragement to reach our hearts! He has higher thoughts than we have, which we must first become familiar with. They are thoughts of peace. If He can reach our heart, He will lead us in the valley of tears to His inexhaustible fountains of consolation.

Today’s reading: Isaiah 56:1-12 · Hebrews 13:17-25