Way Made Straight

I drive to and from work along I-30 everday. It's a pleasant drive and only takes me about 25 minutes. Despite the road construction along a stretch of highway through Grand Prairie, traffic is almost never a problem. Like almost every other major roadway in North Texas, I-30 has become the backdrop for a daily demonstration of what someone who enjoys making big signs calls "Your Tax Dollars at Work".
 
But at least this episode of tax-payer funded roadside entertainment doesn't clog up traffic along I-30. The lanes wiggle around a bit at different sections and concrete barricades are placed intimidatingly close to the inside lanes, but other than that there's not much inconvenience. It's actually kind of thrilling to look over the barricades at 70 mph and see how far down the new roadway sits compared to the existing one.
 
As far as I can tell, the aim of this project is to flatten out this part of the highway so that motorists can travel at a constant speed without interruption from inclines or declines in the roadway. Perhaps for better gas mileage or out of concern for our safety, TXDoT finds it worthwhile to make this area of the Texas plains even more level than it already is: no more small hills or shallow depressions to traverse—nothing but smooth sailing.
 
The process for creating this literal straight shot involves digging down several yards and removing the earth where the road is hilly and then filling in with and building up the earth where the road dips down. It's a combination of lifting up the ground in some areas and making it low in others: a tedious process, to say the least. And though the project has a long way to go before coming to completion, a few sections that are almost finished give a glimpse of what lies "straight" ahead for the remainder of the roadway.
 
I've driven through this slowly changing scene daily for months now. I've grown accustom to the rearranging and realize that the slight inconvenience created by the project is worth the proverbial wait. In the end it will provide an easier way home—a more direct route to where we need to go. So, though some may question the need for all this change now, it seems to me that someone with a master plan is preparing for things yet to come and making the way straight for our benefit.  Apparently, someone is concerned about how we travel and wants to help us reach our destination.
 
I couldn't help but see an analogy...
 
A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."   (Isaiah 40:3-5)