A Blessing in Disguise

“Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.“ (Isa 40:4,5 AV)

I am preaching through Revelation in our Sunday morning services.  We will cover the last vial judgment in Revelation chapter sixteen.  This last of all judgments entails three elements.  The first being rather large hail.  About half the size of a single floor house.  The second is the destruction of all cities.  In particular, Babylon.  The third is a world-wide earthquake that levels all mountains and raises all valleys.  One cannot help but see the parallel in our passage above.  A thought entered my mind.  By the Spirit, my mind considered that if these two are one in the same event, then Revelation gives the motive as judgment for rebellion whereas Isaiah gives the reason as a way to make access to the LORD while reigning in New Jerusalem much easier.  No mountain passes to go around.  No deep valleys that require a bridge.  This would also solve rain runoff.  The Earth would bloom according to verse six of the same chapter as described there.  The point is, a judgment may also contain with it a hidden blessing which we never would have considered otherwise.

The simplest and easiest application would be that God’s judgments eventually make it easier for the faithful to worship the LORD.  In our passage, there would be no need for a highway system.  With completely level ground, all people from all directions would have equally easy access to the temple of the LORD.  This catastrophic event has an upside.  What may have seemed a problem turned out to be a cure.  What may have been traumatic has turned out to be a blessing that has made life a whole lot easier.  What may have seemed like a life altering event indeed has been.  But for the better.

God gave Paul a throne in the flesh.  Paul asked that it be removed three separate times.  Each time, the LORD said no.

  

God told Paul not to go to Jerusalem.  He did anyway.  Paul spent time in prison and several occasions because of this disobedience.  Paul lost his wife and the majority of his missionary work was without the aid of a wife.  The LORD asked Paul to go through things that most of us will never face.  It was because of those things that God was able to use Paul in a way He could use no other.  It is because of those things we have the majority of the New Testament.  His trouble really was a blessing in disguise.