Straightening the Path

God is starting to open my eyes to certain key Hebrew words.  As I look up what something might mean in the Hebrew, I am amazed that I am starting to recognize words from previous passages.  {She can be taught...whoo hoo!}

These are some of the words that are starting to mean something not just to my brain, but to my innermost soul...
leb (heart)
tob (good)
nachalah (inheritance)
qanna (jealous)
simchah (joy)
chesed (mercy)
shub (return)
kabod (glory)

and the newest...yashar (straighten, to make right)

It is like a whole new world for me...I am no scholar...but finding the meanings of Hebrew words is like a treasure hunt that is worth more than anything else I can compare it to!

While in high school, I had one set of verses that trumped everything else:  "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."

So, geek that I am, I looked up the Hebrew for "direct."  It is yashar, which means to straighten.  This reminded me of a verse that I have come to love only this past year which is Isaiah 45:2a "I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight..."  Guess what?  Straight means straight!  It is yashar here, as well.

Sometimes I think God tells us the same things over and over again in His word because He knows we are simple minded and need to be reminded.  How many times can He tell us not to be afraid?  Well, apparently, none too many, because it is the most repeated command in the bible.

How many times does He tell us that we only need to sit back, trust and let Him take over the wheel?  We aren't the drivers of this big rig called life!  When will we get that into our simple yet arrogant little minds?  He tells us that if we will trust Him and simply abide with Him...just walk with Him on a daily basis, then He is going to straighten that path that is before us. 

Life is hard.  It is hard to be us.  We live in enemy territory where the roads are curvy and dangerous.  The road signs seem to be written in another language.  When God shows up, He takes that road and straightens it before our very eyes.  He takes the unknown and makes it right.  Straight.  Just.  Peaceful.  Safe.  Fit. 

But He doesn't stop there.  Yes, he grants us wisdom to make wise decisions and follow the straight path regarding the future.   But, what about the times in the past that we haven't trusted and we've made a mess of things?  God is a God of restoration.  He wants to take our mess and turn it around for good.  We only have to repent and relinquish it and fully surrender.  That is amazing...that He can straighten the roads that are not only before us, but that were behind us as well.  There is nothing He can't redeem or straighten out or make right.  Yashar comes from the root word "yasha" which means to deliver.  He can deliver you out of the bondage of the past and put your feet on the straight and narrow!

It seems so simple:  I trust; He straightens.  I am not asked to give some sort of business plan or vision casting on how things might go...I simply relax.  And let the Driver drive.