Kamikaze Roundabout

Altering a structure that is already in place rather than starting from scratch and building something new often causes problems. That certainly seems to be the case with our local nightmare roundabout. Actually this ingenious piece of road engineering works well enough most of the time. But many motorists feel as though they are taking their lives in their hands when they attempt to navigate its cramped confines and its five bewildering exits – hence the popular label “Kamikaze Roundabout”.

The roundabout is now to be made more user-friendly. However, it seems that matters will become worse before they improve. A bewildering forest of traffic cones has appeared. What was once a predictably routine nightmare has become a constantly changing and even more nightmarish situation for the time being.

After the Great Flood God promised never to destroy all life on earth again (Genesis 8:21). However, the human race again needed complete reconstruction further along in history. We read in Jeremiah 31:31-34 how God announced a new covenant with His people:

"The time is coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the Lord. "This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the Lord."For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (NIV)

Our Daily Bread meditation writer Julie Ackerman Link penned a reflection on this that made me think straight away of Kamikaze Roundabout!

“Here in Michigan we joke that we have two seasons: winter and road construction. Harsh winters damage road surfaces, so repair crews begin their work as soon as the ice melts and the ground thaws. Although we call this work “construction,” much of what they do looks like “destruction.” In some cases, simply patching holes is not an option. Workers have to replace the old road with a new one.

“That’s what it can feel like when God is at work in our lives. Throughout the Old Testament, God told His people to expect some major renovation on the road between Him and them (Isa. 62:10-11; Jer. 31:31). When God sent Jesus, it seemed to the Jews as if their way to God was being destroyed. But Jesus wasn’t destroying anything. He was completing it (Matt. 5:17). The old way paved with laws became a new way paved with the sacrificial love of Jesus.

“God is still at work replacing old ways of sin and legalism with the way of love that Jesus completed. When He removes our old ways of thinking and behaving, it may feel as if everything familiar is being destroyed. But God is not destroying anything; He is building a better way. And we can be confident that the end result will be smoother relationships with others and a closer relationship with Him.”

“Upheaval often precedes spiritual progress,” the meditation ends. I say “Amen”. I am a creature of habit, but give me upheaval any day if it will bring me closer to my Saviour.